


Out of Sight Out of Mind

by HurukaSohma



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders
Genre: Family Fluff, Fluff, Gen, M/M, More tags to be added, Nightmares, mentions of amnesia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-02-09 01:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 28,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12877584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HurukaSohma/pseuds/HurukaSohma
Summary: it was supposed to be a normal morning; get up, eat, then go out with friends. What Thomas wasn’t expecting was to find his four sides having a casual conversation at his dining room table. He also wasn’t expecting to get dragged into a life or death situation.You never know what life will throw at you.





	1. Living Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Innerworks](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9560831) by [Prplzorua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prplzorua/pseuds/Prplzorua). 



It was dark, almost too dark to see, and quiet enough that he could hear his laboured breaths echoing through the halls. The terrified man turned a corner and covered his mouth in an attempt to hear his approaching attackers.

There was too many of them this time, he couldn’t just run away like usual. 

Heavy footsteps grew louder as the group closed in on him. The anxious man slipped down the side hallway as quietly as he could to avoid them. He had to get to the others before the group did. 

It took a few minutes but he managed to make it back to his room, beating the intruders by a good ten minutes. For once his extreme aversion to social interaction had paid off. He sighed in relief before running into the closest room. 

Even in the pale light of the moon the anxious man was able to make out the bright colours and mass piles of things from their hosts past. He found The Prominent curled up in his horde of stuffed animals sleeping soundly. He almost felt bad about forcing him out, but it was to save his life so he felt a bit less bad. Once the Prominent had sunk out the anxious side rushed to the next room. 

It was darker then the Prominent’s but still inviting. Book cases towered over him as he made his way over to the Secondary, who was actually asleep in his bed instead of at his desk. He didn’t feel as bad about dragging him out as the Secondary rarely slept in his bed anyway and probably wouldn’t notice the sudden change. As the Secondary sunk out the anxious man noticed that the mind palace was wavering slightly, the group probably noticed this as well and had quickened their pace. 

He ran to the third room, the Tertiary’s, and prayed that he wouldn’t be awake. He flung the door open and found the Tertiary fast asleep, much to his relief, as the moonlight reflected off the white walls and gold trim of the Royals room. He ran over to the massive bed and paused for a moment watching the Royals chest rise and fall. He looked terrible, and the anxious man immediately knew that he’d had a rough day. He felt terrible about forcing him to sink out but didn’t get the chance to feel that way for long. The group that’d been chasing him was right outside the door so the anxious man whispered a quick apology and forced the Tertiary to sink out. 

Once he was gone the anxious man started to sink out. He did so just in time too as the group burst through the door, lunging at him and missing by a few milliseconds. 

He landed with a quiet thud in his usual spot on the stairs, covering his mouth to muffle any noise he might make. The anxious man waited a few minutes, in case their host had woken up, before checking on everyone. 

A shaky sigh of relief escaped his lips once he realized that everyone was alright. Carefully he moved the three into comfortable positions on the couch before curling up on the floor, back against the couch. He pulled his purple patched hoodie protectively around himself and sobbed silently, terrified of what the future held for them.


	2. What Are You Doing Here?!?!

Thomas’ eyes flew open as he bolted upright. He took a moment to calm his breathing before checking his alarm clock. 1:45am . Letting out a loud groan he fell back and covered his eyes with his arm. He hadn’t had a nightmare that bad before, especially one involving his Sides. He closed his eyes and attempted to go back to sleep, hoping that he wouldn’t have any more crazy dreams.

 

The next morning started off normal enough. Thomas begrudgingly pulled himself out of bed, threw on some clothes and made his way to his kitchen for some food. He'd barely made it halfway down the stairs when he noticed something move in the corner of his eye.

Freezing in fear Thomas whipped his head around and stared wide-eyed at the four identical people casually eating cereal at his table. His panic quickly turned to shock as his brain registered the fact that those four identical people were actually his sides Patton, Logan, Roman, and Virgil.

Virgil, the anxious man he was, had been flicking his gaze around the room, watching for something. He noticed Thomas almost immediately, relaxing slightly once he did. Virgil made brief eye contact with Thomas before turning to the conversation the other three were having.

"Please?"

"No"

"Pretty please~?"

"I said no"

"Come on Lo it'll only be for a few seconds!"

"I said no and that's final!"

Logan slammed his fist down as he finished his last sentence. Roman smiled as he noted the way the Secondary’s voice and body shook. there was no way he could keep this up, especially when he was fighting Patton.

"It's just a hug, Lo..." Patton whimpered catching the look Roman was giving him. The room went dead silent for what seemed like an eternity as Patton gave Logan his puppy dog eyes, making his lips quiver as the Secondary tried to ignore him. Eventually, Virgil broke the silence with a loud and frustrated “Just let him hug you already!”

Logan glared at the anxious side then sighed. “Alright, just get it over with.”

Patton’s face lit up as he pulled his precious 'Teach' into a loving embrace, watching as Logan visibly relaxed in his arms.

At this point, Thomas had inched his way down the stairs and was watching the two with joy, his fear, and shock completely forgotten. Roman, finally noticing him, leaned slightly to his right and flashed his host a cheeky grin.

"It would seem our sleeping beauty has awoken from their blissful slumber!” the creative side announced abruptly, scaring Virgil and causing him to topple unceremoniously to the floor. Patton released Logan as Virgil fell, jumping to his feet and rushing to his side.

"Are you alright kiddo!?!"

"Fan-tastic," Virgil grumbled in a mildly annoyed tone.

Patton helped Virgil to his feet then tried to straighten out his hoodie. This, of course, had Virgil pushing him off and sitting back down with a loud huff. Patton gave the younger a worried look before turning to their giddy, and slightly confused, host.

"Thomas! I'm glad you're awake!" He exclaimed playing with his cat hoodie, "I was starting to think we'd have to send someone to wake you up."

Thomas let out a slight laugh, “Yeah, that would not have gone over well.”

The room fell silent again.

"Soooo... How are you all, you know, here?" Thomas asked rubbing his neck as he talked, "I thought you couldn't manifest unless I wanted you too?"

"We assumed you would know," Logan answered rising from his seat. "It appears that assumption was wrong."

"That's... Helpful."

There was another pause.

"Wait, how do I know you guys are even real?" Thomas asked suddenly, giving them all a skeptical look, "I mean I could just be having another crazy dream!”

“We're as real as anything else in this room," Virgil said in his usual condescending tone. He started looking around the room avoiding eye contact with Thomas. "f you need convincing just hug Patton. hittin' Princy works too."

“Hey!” Roman feigned hurt, "You wound me with your harsh words.”

"Do I look like I care?" Virgil scoffed.

Roman narrowed his eyes, "Touché.”

Virgil blinked at him, surprised that the Royal didn’t carry on. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say more, then decided against it and sank further into his chair instead. Thomas gave the anxious side a confused glance then turned back to Logan.

“So this whole being here thing."

"Ah yes! That. Sometime this morning, for reasons still unknown, we were dragged from your mind palace and given physical form."

"By this morning do you mean around two o'clock?" Thomas asked a spark of curiosity in his eyes.

“Possibly. Anxiety is that correct?" Logan responded turning to the anxious side.

“Anxiety? Why would he know?" Thomas asked his curiosity written all over his face now.

"Well, I-"

"Our ball of sunshine here rarely gets any sleep," Roman stated, effectively cutting him off, “So he was awake when we were all rudely dragged out of your mind palace."

Thomas looked at Roman in surprise, Virgil gave him a wide-eyed, terrified look, and Logan looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“And how, might I ask, do you know that?"

"Hmm? Why wouldn't I know about his sleep habits? It's my job to know everything that goes on in my kingdom." Roman gave Logan a confused look as he spoke, while Virgil seemed to calm down slightly.

Quietly Roman added, "Besides, it's hard to miss his screams when our rooms are right next to each other."

"What was that?" Logan asked.

“Nothing!"

Thomas stared at Roman in shock, excitement sparkling in his eyes, "You rule a kingdom!?"

"Of course I do! I am a Prince after all." Roman puffed out his chest proudly.

"Why was I never told about this!?" Thomas practically squealed in excitement looking around at his sides with a massive grin.

Patton stepped in at this, "Because there's never been a good time to talk about it. Now's not really a good time either."

"Why not!?"

"You planned an outing with your friends today, Remember?"

"Oh shoot!" Thomas panicked, excitement mostly forgotten, “You’re right! Gaaahhh!! I have to leave now if I wanna get there on time!!!”

Thomas rushed past everyone and grabbed a snack from the kitchen, then proceeded to run upstairs to change, yelling “Thanks for reminding me!” as he did.

“That’s what I’m here for Kiddo!” Patton called back happily.

Thomas came back down a few minutes later dressed in some nicer clothes and rushed to the door. Remembering his sides Thomas turned to them.

"While I'm gone just, uh, make yourselves comfortable? I don't know, maybe you can all try and figure out what happened.” He rambled as he pulled on his jacket. “Just uh... Don't leave the house, ok?" 

His sides all nodded in agreement and Thomas flashed them a relieved smile.

"Cool! See you all later, I guess." With that their host disappeared out the door leaving the four sides on their own.


	3. Something’s Off

The three eldest Sides stared at the door once their host left, Eventually turning their attention back to Virgil. This seemed to make him nervous as he started fidgeting with his hoodie’s drawstrings, trying his hardest to avoid eye contact with everyone. The four sat in relative silence as Virgil did this, with Logan eyeing the anxious side curiously. Eventually the logical side continued his line of questioning from earlier.

"So Anxiety, did we get here around two this morning?" Logan asked continuing to look over the anxious side with curiosity.

Virgil continued playing with his hoodie for awhile, eventually responding to Logan’s question with “...That... Sounds... Right...” his voice sounding tired and distant.

Patton looked at Virgil concerned, “Are you sure you're alright Virg?" 

The anxious side refused to answer, opting to pull his knees close to his chest instead. Virgil started to shake once he had, so Patton put a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. This ended up making things worse as Virgil froze under the elders touch and began to hyperventilate. Patton pulled his hand away quickly and looked to Logan for answers. Logan shook his head, just as confused as Patton. They both ended up turning to Roman as he made his way over to the terrified side.

“Come on sunshine, let's watch some Disney movies to lighten the mood." Roman said, his tone softer then usual. He offered Virgil his hand and the side gave it a skeptical look.

"... What... if I don't want to watch... Disney..." Virgil muttered slowly uncurling himself as his breathing evened out.

Roman thought for a moment, "Let's watch Black Cauldron then, maybe we can cue up The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride as well."

"... Ok...." 

Virgil took Roman’s hand and allowed himself to be lead to the couch. Patton and Logan watched with worry as the two got comfortable. Once Roman got the movie going the elder two started cleaning up the dishes. They weren’t about to leave Thomas’ place a complete mess, especially since they were technically his guests. The two finished rather quickly and took the chance to talk privately in the kitchen.

"Logan do you think Virgil will be ok?" Patton asked as he put the last of the dishes away.

"I'm not sure Patton. Considering how on edge he's been lately and his current mental state I believe the best we can hope for is him adjusting within a few days."

"And in the worst case scenario?" Patton asked searching Logan’s eyes for any uncertainty.

Logan adjusted his glasses, "At this rate? It'll probably be him having another panic attack." Patton let out a pitiful whimper so Logan pulled him into a hug. They stayed like that for a while soaking up each other's warmth as Black Cauldron played in the background. 

Patton eventually pulled away so he could look around Thomas' kitchen, sifting through cupboards in search of something. Logan immediately understood what he was doing and decided to give the stressed Prominent a hand. 

He closed his eyes and focused his mind on the room, hoping he had the same amount of control out here as he did in the mind palace. In a few seconds there were piles of baking ingredients and utensils lining the counters. 

Patton flashed him a thankful smile before pulling out a cook book. An idea came to Logan at that so he left the kitchen, returning a few seconds later with Thomas' laptop. Patton flashed him another smile and handed Logan the cook book. Logan read the name of the recipe Patton had picked, adjusted his glasses again, and started reading aloud directing Patton on how to bake peanut butter cookies.


	4. ‘Stress Baking’

After finishing about three movies Roman decided to check on Logan and Patton. They had disappeared into the kitchen at the beginning of him and Virgil’s movie marathon and Roman was starting to get worried. This was partially because Patton had seemed stressed earlier, and partially because he’d started to smell what he assumed were blueberry muffins. 

Virgil gave Roman a wary look as he got up but soon followed suit once he started smelling the muffins as well. Neither of them were surprised when they turned around to find the eldest two in the middle of a 'Patton Baking Marathon'. 

Logan had Thomas' laptop out and was reading a recipe for banana chocolate chip muffins as Patton ran around finding all the ingredients, which were plentiful. Surrounding the laptop were at least five dozen cookies and two batches of muffins, with even more in the oven.

"In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork," Logan stated.

Patton did as told, grabbing a large bowl before quickly peeling three bananas and mashing them. Roman looked on with a blank stare as he did while Virgil raised an eyebrow and directed the look at Logan. 

Logan noticed this and shook his head, mouthing 'Stress Baking' before telling Patton to, "whisk in egg, 1/3 cup of milk, 1/2 cup of granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup of brown sugar." 

"What in the world are you two up too?" Roman finally said crossing his arms, a small smile on his lips. Patton looked up from his mixing, giving Roman and Virgil a relieved smile. 

"Hey Kiddo's! Just thought now might be a good time to do some baking." Patton picked up the bowl so he could whisk and talk to them simultaneously. "ya know since we all need a bit of a distraction." 

Roman noticed that Patton was fidgeting, taping his foot, playing with the whisk, rocking on his heels, all part of a nervous habit he'd developed when stressed or overwhelmed. Roman watched Patton's smile for a few seconds after catching the fidgeting and saw a slight twitch. He was definitely stressed.

"Would you mind if I pitched in?" Roman asked lowering his arms.

"OF Course not!! I'll never turn down a helping hand when baking!" Patton exclaimed happily. He handed Roman the bowl with a look of relief on his face before searching for another. 

Virgil rolled his eyes at this, shoving his hands into his pockets as he turned to leave. He managed to take a few steps but was suddely stopped by a firm grip on his arm. Virgil whipped back around, terrified, to find Patton smiling at him. A big, obviously forced, smile

"Where do you think you're going?" 

"Back to the couch..." Virgil's eyes narrowed as he tried to calm his rapid heartbeat.

"No you're not! we need everyone here to make these muffins!" Patton's grip tightened and that clued Virgil in to what was happening.

He sighed.

"What do you want me to do then?" 

Patton loosened his grip.

"Hmm..... How's about you supervise the rest of us? That way you can keep us from doing anything dangerous!" 

Virgil nodded, pulling his arm away from Patton before climbing onto the counter near the fridge. He sat in such a way that he could look out the window while also keeping an eye on the other three Sides. 

The four of them stayed like this for the rest of the day; Logan yelling out recipes, Patton and Roman baking, and Virgil attempting to stay conscious while watching from the counter, stealing occasional glances of the world outside.

 

Thomas had just barely walked in the door before coming across the mound of baked goods. He stared blankly at the pile, then at Patton who was happily washing dishes while Roman and Logan put them away.

Virgil, who was still on the counter, leaned out past the fridge and gave their exasperated host a slight wave.

"Sup."

Thomas waved back in a daze.

"Uhhhhhh..... Where did you get the ingredients for all of this?" he asked, genuinely concerned, "Cause I don't remember having the ingredients needed for half of this stuff.”

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Patton said flashing Thomas a reassuring smile, "Lo brought everything out of the mind palace so none of us had to set foot outside." 

Thomas nodded still slightly concerned, "Ok... Thats good to know, But why?"

"Patton has a tendency to, 'Stress Bake'" Logan stated, using air quotes. "It's one of the few things that can truly calm his nerves when he's overwhelmed."

"I thought he would just eat cookies?"

"Well yah, but I have to make the cookies in order to eat them!" Patton said with a giggle, "there's also times I need more then just a cookie...."

Thomas was about to ask another question but stopped when a loud ring startled everyone. After the second ring Virgil started frantically sifting through his pockets. By the third ring, he'd pulled out a sleek looking phone. He mumbled a quick apology to everyone before running off and locking himself in the bathroom. 

The remaining four gave each other questioning looks. Patton shrugged before going back to cleaning the kitchen so he could work on dinner, Logan went back to helping Patton with the dishes and they both forced Thomas to go take a shower. This left Roman on his own with multiple options but no clear idea of what to do. He soon decided it would be best if he went to check on Virgil. He was worried about how he was handling the whole situation. Besides, it was his job to know everything that went on with Thomas' sides.


	5. Breaking Down

Virgil knew who was calling the moment his phone went off, though it was difficult not to. There was only a handful of people with his number and only one would be panicked enough to call without warning. 

“L-Lennox, h-hey... What's up?"

"I just heard about what happened," the man on the other end blurted out, the worry in his voice apparent. “Are you okay?!?" 

“S-straight to the point huh?” Virgil replied, a broken laugh escaping him, “No s-small talk or anything?”

“I didn’t call to talk about the weather, I’m calling to make sure you’re alright!”

Virgil blinked back the tears that started forming in his eyes, “Y-Yah w-well you panicking i-isn’t really helpful.”

Lennox went silent on the other end as he realized his mistake, giving Virgil the chance to gather his thoughts.

"I-I'm... Not...” Virgil paused for breath as tears started flowing freely down his face, “I’m not doing g-great...”

Another long pause.

"T-Thomas and the others t-they’re looking for answers.... and I w-want to give t-them but I... I can't... n-not without making things w-worse." He forced out, unaware of the person that was now outside the door.

"I-.... Lennox I-I'm terrified. They’re definitely sea-seaching for us n-now, if they w-weren’t already, and I don't... W-what am I supposed to do!" The anxious side wailed 

"It's ok Virgil, calm down. Everything will be fine.” Lennox said in an attempt to sooth the terrified side, “B-besides, they would’ve shown up already if they knew where you were.”

Lennox thought for a moment.

“How soon can you get over to my place?” He asked.

“I-I don’t... I don’t k-know, tomorrow m-maybe?” Virgil replied wiping at the remaining tears. “It d-depends on w-what Thomas has p-planed.”

“Well, try to get over here within the next few weeks ok?”

“A-Alright. You still at the same p-place?”

"Yep, and I don't plan on moving anytime soon." 

Virgil opened his mouth to speak again but was interrupted by a loud crash on the other end of the phone.

"Oh sh- Xaivion! You alright?!"  
Lennox yelled to someone on his end.

"I'm alri- Wait, no I'm bleeding." Was the muffled response Virgil heard.

"Oh For The Love Of-" Lennox sighed. "I'll have to end the call here, sorry Virgil."

"It's..." The call ended, "...fine..."

Virgil slowly moved the phone from his face and stared at the blank screen, processing the conversation. Without warning he flung the phone across the room, watching as it crashed to the floor with a dull thud. The tears started to flow again as he sank to the floor, berating himself for how weak he was. 

This continued for what seemed like an eternity, with Virgil only stopping due to a firm knock on the door. He knew he had to answer It eventually so he forced himself to calm down. Slowly Virgil pulled himself to his feet, silently thanking whoever had come to check on him. There was a second knock as Virgil picked up his phone. His relief quickly turned to panic after this knock when the person finally spoke.

"Anxi- ....Virgil? Are you alright?" Roman asked, his voice slightly muffled by the door.

His eyes went wide as the voice registered in his mind. Patton he could deal with right now, even Logan wouldn’t be that bad, but Roman? Oh man, he was screwed.

Virgil shook off the last remnants of his break down and turned to the mirror horrified. His eyes? red and puffy, hair? all over the place, eye shadow and foundation? smudged, leaving dark streaks where they’d mixed with his tears. There was no way he could fix all this in a few seconds, but dammit he was gonna try.

With a grimace he grabbed a face cloth from the rack and quickly rubbed his face clean. Once he was finished with the vigorous scrubbing he ran his fingers through his hair in an effort to straighten it. He looked himself over again once he'd finished. 

Without all the makeup he looked even worse. His skin was a sickly pale and his bags were almost as bad as the ones he always made with eyeshadow. His eyes weren’t as puffy but they still had a noticeable red tint to them. Virgil noted how pitiful he looked and grimaced again, at least his hair looked decent. With a sigh Virgil steeled his nerves, unlocking the door to his inevitable fate. 

Like he predicted Roman was standing outside, though his expression caught him off guard. The creative side was obviously trying to hide his feelings, but he was clearly worried about something. For a brief moment Virgil allowed himself to believe the Prince was actually worried about him. He quickly forced the thought out of his head and narrowed his eyes.

"What do you want Princy?" Virgil growled, trying his hardest to sound annoyed.

Roman studied him in stunned silence immediately noting the lack of makeup. That along with the red eyes clued Roman in to the fact that he’d been crying. He looked over Virgil once more and noticed that he’d started playing with his jacket, making him realize that the anxious side was waiting for an answer.

"Oh! Um... I , uh, Just... wanted to make sure you were ok!" Roman said in an overly cheerful tone, “You just ran off so everyone was a bit worried!”

Virgil responded with a huff then tried to push past, though Roman stopped him again before he could get very far. This earned the fanciful side a glare as Virgil waited for him to speak. 

"Soooo.... Would you mind if I asked about who you were to talking to?" Roman asked, forcing down the lump in his throat.

Virgil's eyes went wide at the question, making Roman immediately regret admitting to eavesdropping. Virgil growled again, out of fear this time, and grabbed Roman by the collar of his shirt, pulling him close. 

"What The Hell Is Wrong With You!?” Virgil whisper yelled, “Out Of All The People In This House Why Are YOU The One Sticking Your Nose In My Business!?" 

"I-I-I’m sorry! I just- You were-" Roman stuttered, scared by the wild look in Virgil’s eyes.

"Hey Kiddo's, Time For Din-Din's!" Patton yelled cutting off Roman and freeing him from having to explain his actions.

Slowly Virgil lossened his grip on Roman. His face was slightly flushed with anger, and he took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. Roman stood there blinking, fear in his eyes, before deciding that he didn’t want to stick around. He rushed to the dining room, Virgil following not to long after. He’d taken a moment to think and decided that maybe this was a good thing, he did need someone to talk to after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry for the wait! I just couldn’t seem to find the motivation to work on this chapter and for the longest time I couldn’t seem to get it quite right. There was always something off that I just couldn’t place.
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, oh! And Happy New Year!


	6. Stress, ‘Training’, and... Amnesia?

It was painfully obvious to Thomas that Roman was refusing to look at Virgil as they all ate. He’d flick his gaze over to Patton and Logan every now and then, but mostly kept his gaze fixed on the table. Virgil noticed this almost immediately. He’d turned to the Royal with a look of regret before grimacing and turning back to his plate. This just made Thomas curious about what happened while the two were alone.

He looked to Patton who flashed him a smile. If his morality had noticed he was doing a good job of hiding it. Thomas sighed, things weren’t going to get anywhere at this point. 

He started picking at a crack in his table.

“So, what are we going to do about rooms?”

Silence.

Logan blinked at him, “That was sudden.”

“Well we have to figure it out at some point,” Thomas replied with a shrug.

“That’s true.”

Roman perked up, “I could rearrange the house for a bit.”

Thomas gave Roman a confused look, “what do you mean?”

“I’m your creative side, remember?” Roman smiled, “I can change the layout of your house, though I won’t do anything too drastic for now.”

“That... actually sounds like a good idea,” Virgil chimed in, “good thinking Princy.”

Roman looked at Virgil for a moment, shocked, but quickly shook himself out of it and turned back to Thomas, “Well?”

Logan nodded in agreement, “Anxiety is right. It would solve our room problem and could easily be reversed when needed.”

“I guess that’s settled then,” Thomas said with a smile, “Roman?”

The Royal snapped his fingers, “Already done.”

“Amazing!” Patton squealed, “does this mean we all have our own rooms?!”

“Well~” Roman drew out, rubbing the back of his neck, “Not quite...”

“I made two rooms, and added an upstairs bathroom,” he continued, “there’s one where the office was and another just a bit down the hall.”

“So we’ll have to share rooms, correct?” Logan said adjusting his glasses. 

Roman nodded. “Unfortunately.”

"OH! OH, OH!" Patton suddenly called out, "Me and Lo Should Share a Room!" 

Roman froze at Patton's suggestion while Virgil seemed to perk up.

"Why do you think that Patton?" Logan asked, a smile working its way onto his face.

"Because we know each other the best!" Patton replied a massive grin on his face.

"Alright. Any objections?" Thomas asked turning to the other two.

"I'm fine rooming with Princy," Virgil said with a smirk getting a terrified look from Roman. He muttered something else afterwards that was too quiet to catch. 

"What was that?" Patton asked, tilting his head.

"Nothing." Virgil quickly replied.

Thomas clapped his hands to bring everyone's attention back to him.

"Well now that that's settled you guys just need to decide who gets what room."

"If we're deciding rooms I feel it would be fair for me and Roman to chose them, Since Patton and Anxiety decided who would sleep together." Logan stated, adjusting his glasses.

"What a great idea Lo!" Patton added with a slight giggle.

"I don't really care," Virgil said with a shrug, slouching in his chair, “it’s just a room.” 

Roman raised an eyebrow at that, throwing Virgil a mischievous grin in the process.

“Oh! You don't?" He cooed, “Then I would like to take the room at the end of the hall.”

Virgil glared at the Prince, “What are you up to?”

“Nothing!” Roman replied throwing his arms up in defence.

"Alright then. Patton and I shall take the office." Logan said turning to Thomas signalling for him to defuse the situation.

Thomas gave a slight nod and changed the subject, “So If Roman and Logan can mess with my rooms does that mean the rest of you can too?" Patton nodded and proceeded to manifest a small stuffed lion in his arms, While Virgil pulled out a set of headphones.

"We should all be able to manipulate the rooms of your home, though not as drastically as Roman can." Logan stated.

"That's good," Thomas replied with a relieved smile, “At least things won’t be too different from my mind palace.”

With that Virgil stood up and grabbed his plate, "If we're done here I'd like to go set up our room." 

"Of course, I’ll join you.” Roman said, following Virgil "but we both have to approve each other’s choices. I'm not about to stay in a room covered top to bottom in gothic decor!" 

Virgil scoffed at Roman as they climbed the stairs, “You’d be surprised at the way I decorate."

"I think I have a decent idea of....." 

Their voices trailed off as the two disappeared upstairs leaving the other three sitting at the table.

 

Thomas turned to Patton once the two were out of earshot.

“Did you-?”

“I noticed,” Patton replied, cutting off Thomas, “there’s nothing we can do about it.”

Logan nodded, “whatever happened is between them.”

Thomas turned to the stairs then back to Patton, “does this happen often?”

“Not really,” Patton shrugged, “it’s been a bit more common since Virg revealed his name, but it’s still pretty rare.”

“Any idea why?”

Logan thought for a moment, “I’m not quite sure.... they only really get this way after Roman returns from his training.”

Thomas gave Logan a questioning look so he elaborated.

“Every now and then Roman will run off and train,” Logan said adjusting his glasses, “none of us know where he goes but there have been a few times he’s come back severely wounded.”

Patton nodded, “He’s given us all quite a scare on more then one occasion.”

“Huh... I never would’ve guessed,” Thomas said crossing his arms, “Anything else I should be aware of?”

Patton and Logan locked eyes with each other, coming to a silent agreement.

“Well- about that...” Patton said with a nervous laugh, “there’s a few things about Virgil but, ah...”

Logan sighed, “Do you truly want us to tell you?”

Thomas nodded.

Logan blinked and sighed again.

"He... Had his memories stolen in the past. From what we’ve gotten out of Roman and some other sides it was a few years worth of them." Logan adjusted his glasses again.  
"Everyone we’ve talked to said they barely knew him, though I highly doubt that they’ve all been completely truthful with us.” 

Thomas looked at Logan with wide eyes as he processed what he’d just said. “That’s terrible.... I never would’ve guessed that Virgil.....”

Patton flashed Thomas a sad smile, “it happened a short while before you first met us, Virg showed no interest in coming out of your mind palace so there wasn’t any need to mention at the time.”

He rubbed the back of his neck, giving the host a sheepish look, “Though one thing lead to another so here we are!.”

There was a brief pause.

“Has he... remembered anything?” Thomas asked.

“Bits and pieces, but nothing really significant. He remembered his name and some of his unique abilities at least.” Patton replied adding another smile, “Oh! And a few voices! No faces though...”

Thomas closed his eyes and stayed silent for a moment, processing everything his sides just told him. Eventually he opened them again and sighed. 

“Well, I’m glad you told me about this now.” The host said with a smile, “Better late then never, right?”

The elder two nodded in agreement as Thomas pulled away from the table. He stood up and studied the elder Sides, finally noticing how tired the two looked. It was kind of expected considering how much had happened in only one day. Thomas gave them a tired smile.

"Why don't you two go get some rest now while I clean up down here?" 

"You sure you don't want any help?" Patton asked.

"Nah, I'll be fine. besides, you two still have to get your room set up." 

"Oh! That's Right I completely forgot about having to set up our room!" He grabbed Logan's arm and pulled him towards the stairs, a sudden burst of energy washing over him. 

Thomas waved goodnight as the two disappeared up the stairs before getting to work on the dishes. It took a bit but soon Thomas was done in the kitchen, upstairs and passed out in bed, completely drained after the long day.


	7. Settling In

Roman went silent once he was sure they were out of earshot. There wasn’t any need to keep up his cheerful persona around the anxious side, especially considering their earlier confrontation. The Royal stole a quick glance at Virgil, who seemed surprisingly calm considering the situation.

A lump settled in his throat. Whatever punishment he had in store the Royal surely deserved.

The silence followed them into the room and the air grew heavy with anticipation. Roman was starting second thoughts about sharing a room with Virgil. His body tensed as he heard the click of the door. A slightly louder click followed as Virgil locked it, leaving Roman with no way to escape.

 

The Prince turned to face him as thoughts raced through his head.  
He kept his eyes glued to Virgil as the anxious side thought about something, staying silent for a moment before sighing and finally turning to Roman.

“Let's try this again,” Virgil said, his voice calm, “Why were you eavesdropping on me?" 

Roman played with his sash nervously, unsure of how to answer the question. Anything would have been better than having to answer Virgil’s question. The Royal bit his lip and thought for a moment before answering.

"I-I just... You seemed troubled so I wanted to make sure you were alright." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have stayed after I'd checked on you, but I just... I couldn't bring myself to leave you like that." 

Roman lowered his head and mumbled. "Not after what happened the last time I walked away.”

Virgil gave him a slightly confused look, then sighed and let his arms drop. “Well you know now so there’s nothing I can do.....”

Roman watched, wide eyed, as Virgil’s expression softened. Tears started forming in the anxious sides eyes so he wiped them away. There was no way he was letting the prince know how much those words meant to him.

Roman kept watching, concern showing on his face as Virgil tried to keep himself together. Unsure of what to do he stepped forward.

Virgil blinked, responding to the movement by stepping forward and resting his head on Roman's shoulder, too tired to do much else. Roman panicked slightly at the sudden contact, but forced himself to calm down as Virgil started to sob quietly. Eventually the prince worked up the nerve to embrace Virgil and run a hand through his hair, in an attempt to calm him.

After awhile Virgil managed to calm down, his sobs giving way to a content silence.

“Please don't say a word of this to Thomas, Logan or Patton." He muttered, words muffled by Roman's shoulder. 

"A-And the conversation you had in the bathroom?" The fanciful side asked.

"I'll explain later... Too tired..." Virgil muttered.

Roman nodded in understanding before gently pushing Virgil off his shoulder. “How about we decorate the room now? then we can get to sleep." 

Virgil nodded and looked past Roman at the room. He eyed the Royal suspiciously once he noticed the queen sized bed in the middle of the room.

“I’m gonna assume we’re sharing a bed?”

Roman’s face went beet red, “U-unfortunately. I didn’t have room to make two rooms with two beds.”

Virgil rolled his eyes and scanned the rest of the room. It was similar to his room in the mind palace so he used the little energy he had to manifest his dresser, desk, small bookcase and sheets, each with everything that had been left on them.

The Royal looked around at the changes, giving Virgil a questioning look.

"This all seems relatively normal," Roman said sarcastically, giving Virgil a sly smile, "Definitely not what I was expecting from our Emo Nightmare." 

"Not everything I own follows the theme of 'Doom and Gloom' Princy." 

"A pleasant surprise." 

Roman moved over to the bed and tested the mattress and covers. He found the mattress a bit too stiff for his liking and switched it out for one similar to his in the mind palace, adding a pile of pillows for even more comfort. 

The Royal looked over the sheets again and decided he liked them. They were quite heavy and soft with lots of extra length so neither of them would have to worry about stealing the covers from the other. The black and white checkered pattern was a nice touch as well. 

He looked over at Virgil's dresser and nodded in approval. It was small enough that Roman could fit a dresser of his own beside it. To add a more personal touch to the room he placed a large mirror above them that covered most of the wall. 

Roman turned to the corner next, deciding that the bookcase and desk were fine before moving to the wall by the door. He placed a flat screen tv at the perfect height to be viewed from the bed and a tv stand below it overflowing with Disney movies.

Virgil hummed his approval as he looked around at Roman's additions, before moving over to the bed and flopping face first into it.

Roman snickered before heading out to the new bathroom and setting it up. Once he was finished in there he came back and added a fancy crystal vase filled with vibrant red roses to his dresser. He added a few scented candles as well, then sat down beside Virgil. 

The anxious side lifted his head slightly to look around. Seemingly satisfied he dropped his head back down onto the bed.

"Aren't you going to change?" Roman asked his sly smile returning.

Virgil replied with a loud groan.

"I'll take that as a no." Roman stated, stifling a laugh.

Virgil watched with mild interest as Roman got up and moved to his dresser, pulling out a pair of red silk pyjamas. He continued to watch as he slipped out of his clothes, putting on the pyjamas as he did. 

Roman neatly folded his clothes, laid them on his dresser, and turned around to find Virgil attempting to push himself into a sitting position. Roman smirked as he watched Virgil try, and fail, multiple times at the simple act.

“What drawer are your clothes in?" 

Virgil pointed weakly to the bottom left drawer. “Tank top. Don't care which one." 

Roman obliged, pulling out a plum coloured tank top before dropping it on the bed within Virgil's reach. Virgil tried to sit up again, this time with a bit of help from Roman. He shrugged off his hoodie and kicked off his pants, then with a bit of effort managed to get out of his shirt and pull on the loose fitting tank top. 

With a bit more effort the anxious side pulled himself under the covers and curled into a ball, pulling some of the pillows closer as he did. Roman smiled for the umpteenth time that night as he turned off the lights and crawled in next to Virgil. 

 

It wasn’t long after that Virgil closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, leaving Roman wide awake. The Royal turned over and watched the anxious side’s chest rise and fall as he slept. 

Maybe sharing a room with Virgil wouldn't be that bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone!
> 
> I just wanted to thank all of you that have been reading this story. It makes me so happy to know that there’s people out there enjoying my work, especially since I don’t often show it others.
> 
> I know I’m not that great when it comes to writing and grammar, so it means a lot to see your comments... even though I don’t respond to them.
> 
> Anyways, I hope you continue to enjoy ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind’, and thank you all for reading!


	8. Morning Daze

Virgil woke early the next morning to sunlight streaming through the curtains, a pleasant warmth beside him. He snuggled in closer to the warmth, humming in approval, before realizing what it was. The anxious side’s eyes snapped open as his mind registered the smiling, red clad figure fast asleep beside him.

Immediately he scrambled away from Roman, sitting up as his heart raced. Virgil’s face went bright red. How long had they been cuddling?! 

Roman stirred at the sudden loss, causing Virgil to freeze and his blood to run cold. The Prince muttered something under his breath before turning over, his smile turning into a slight frown. 

Virgil sighed in relief, taking a moment to view his surroundings. The room was bathed in sunlight, giving every thing a golden glow. He smiled to himself as he swung his legs off the bed. He would never admit it but he always loved how Roman paid attention to little details. His keen eye when creating always led to things like this.

The anxious side did a brief stretch before making his way to his dresser. After a bit of rummaging he pulled out a small makeup kit covered in a purple plaid pattern. Kit in hand he made his way to the door, stealing a quick glance at the sleeping Royal before exiting the room.

He sighed once the door closed. There was a lot he’d have to go over with Roman later. If only he knew where to start. Virgil’s thoughts started taking a darker turn but thankfully he was drawn back to reality by someone coming out of the bathroom.

 

“Mornin’ Kiddo!” Patton said with a wave, “You sleep alright?”

“I guess,” Virgil replied with a shrug, noticing the pastel blue towel wrapped around the elder’s shoulders, “You done in there?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah, I just finished.”

“Mhmm, does Logan still need the washroom?”

“Nope! He was up and finished long before me,” the elder replied flashing a smile, “So if you need the bathroom it’s yours.”

“‘Kay, thanks Pat’.”

Patton flashed Virgil another smile and disappeared down the hallway into his room. Virgil watched him go, catching a brief glimpse of pastel coloured walls before the door closed.

He thought about trying to catch another glimpse of the elders room, but quickly shook the thought from his head. He came out here to shower and do his makeup not breach someone’s privacy.

 

Once he was free of distractions Virgil managed to get in and out of the shower in about twenty minutes. All he really needed to do was remove the leftover foundation and eyeshadow from the day before, which wasn’t that difficult.

Clean and relatively refreshed, Virgil was ready to apply his makeup. He pulled out everything he’d need, foundation, eyeshadow, brushes... then he saw his reflection.

 

The anxious side stared at himself in shock. His bags weren’t as bad as usual and his skin didn’t have its normal sickly glow. He stared at his reflection for a while longer, trying to figure out what caused the sudden changes. It was at that moment something dawned on him.

He hadn’t had any nightmares.

Virgil's lips turned up into a smile and he couldn’t help but let out a slight chuckle. Sleeping with the Prince had actually kept his nightmares at bay. Roman, annoying, flamboyant, Prince Roman had actually helped him get a decent nights sleep.

Virgil let out another chuckle and sighed, “Guess I don’t have to work as hard to look presentable.”

Finally the anxious side got to work. He carefully applied his foundation, taking in to account the slight change in appearance, then expertly applied his eye shadow. Virgil made sure to put on less than usual since his actual bags weren’t as bad. 

Just as Virgil finished with his makeup someone knocked on the bathroom door. He rolled his eyes, already knowing it was Roman.

 

“C’mon in, I’m almost d-“ 

Virgil had to stop himself mid sentence. He struggled to hold back his laughter at the sight that greeted him.

Roman was standing in the now open doorway a complete mess. His hair was sticking out every which way and his eyes were puffy and blurred with sleep. The pillows had imprinted themselves on the Royals face, and the marks stood out against his pale skin. 

His pyjamas fared no better. They were in complete disarray; shirt hitching up one side, falling off the opposite shoulder. One pant leg rolled up and caught just above his knee, while the other was caught just above his ankle.

“What?” The confused Royal asked.

Virgil just shook his head, trying his hardest not to laugh. With a bit of effort the anxious side moved back, pointing to the mirror. The Prince kept giving him the confused look before finally turning to his reflection. His eyes went wide in shock as he realized what the problem was. 

Roman blinked a few times, then flashed Virgil a sheepish smile.

“I never have been a morning person.”

Unable to hold in his laughter any longer Virgil let go, not caring that he was loud enough to alert the others. Roman soon joined in, laughing just as hard as Virgil. They didn't care about how loud they were, it was just too funny. 

It took forever for the two to stop. Just one would calm down the other would burst out laughing, setting the first one off again. Eventually though, they calmed down enough to speak.

"I-I'm gon-na go get dressed," Virgil wheezed, as he tried (and failed) to catch his breath. 

Roman let out another chuckle, shaking his head as he did. "while you do t-that I'll deal with this royal train wreck." 

Virgil let out another laugh and wiped at the tears trying to form in his eyes. "Go-od plan Princy.” 

 

Leaving Roman to do his thing Virgil headed back to their room to look for his clothes. After a bit of hunting he found them tucked halfway under the bed, probably from his earlier rush to get away from the Royal. 

Pulling off his tank top, Virgil threw on his dark purple tee and black ripped jeans. Once he got those on he balled up his tank top and dropped it on his desk chair. He would’ve left it on the bed, but he had a feeling that it’d get lost among the mass of pillows.

Finally after all that he pulled on his hoodie, relaxing as he felt the familiar warmth around him. He stood still for a second, content, before remembering his conversation with Lennox the day before. 

 

Virgil sifted through his pockets as his earlier thoughts resurfaced. How was he supposed to explain the situation to Roman? He’d basically promised to tell the Royal what was happening, but he had no idea where to start.

Eventually he found his phone, pulling it out and checking it to see if there were any new messages. He had a few. Lennox had texted him about an hour ago.

He’d sent a handful of pictures, medical supplies, some bloody bandages, the remains of a broken glass, and one of a very embarrassed Xaivion holding up his bandaged arm. Virgil couldn’t help but snicker as he read the message that came after them.

‘Xaivion’s rotten luck struck again, thankfully it wasn’t hospital worthy this time.’

Virgil smiled as he sent a reply, ‘I was wondering what that crash was yesterday.’

‘Yeah... you’d think he’d learn to be careful by now.’ Lennox texted back

There was a moment of silence.

‘... You gonna be able to make it over here today?’

‘Dunno,’ Virgil typed back, ‘I might be able to sneak past Thomas, Pat, and Logan but Princy’s gonna be a problem.’

‘?’

Virgil sighed, ‘He... overheard my end of our conversation’

‘Dang... so he’s keeping an eye on you?’

‘Yep.’

‘Well... look on the bright side, at least it’ll be easier to explain to him!’

‘Already am. We had a short talk yesterday about the whole ‘eavesdropping’ thing and kinda worked things out.’

‘Ok now I want details!’

‘Later,’ Virgil typed, waving to Roman as he walked in, ‘Sir sing-a-lot just walked in.’

‘Aww~ fine, but you better not hold back on me!’

‘I won’t, talk to you later.’

‘Bye!’

Roman flashed Virgil a cheeky grin as the anxious side put his phone back into his pocket, “Talking to your friend?”

“Maybe...,” Virgil replied, shoving his hands into his pockets, “What’s it matter to you?”

The Royal shrugged, “I was just curious, nothing wrong with that.”

“Sure you are,” Virgil muttered leaning back slightly.

Silence fell over the room as the conversation trailed off, broken only by the occasional rustle of clothing. Virgil glanced at Roman as he changed out of his pyjamas. He was frowning slightly. 

The anxious man sighed.

“I’m gonna head downstairs,” he announced, “get something to eat and stuff.”

“Alright,” was Roman’s half-hearted reply.

Virgil gave Roman a worried glance, before sighing again and making his way out the door.

 

As the door closed Roman let out a shaky breath. He looked up at his reflection, seeing the broken expression on his face.

He sighed.

“Why do I keep doing this,” he muttered to himself, “He doesn’t remember anything, doesn’t trust you like he used to, so stop getting your hopes up.”

He took a few deep breathes and finished getting dressed. The Royal took one last look at himself in the mirror before regaining his usual composure. He didn’t need these thoughts right now.

With another sigh Roman made his way to the door. He paused at the door, his hand on the handle, and looked back at the room for a moment. He let out another shaky breath. Maybe a chat with Patton would help clear his head.


	9. What’s Wrong?

Roman wasn’t surprised when he came down to find Patton waiting for him. The elder always made sure everyone was fed when they woke up, no matter what he was doing when they did. Seeing him in an apron with a plate of food in hand only served to confirm this fact.

“Thank you Patton,” the Royal muttered, taking the plate from the elders outstretched hands.

Patton smiled as he made his way into the kitchen, “No problem Ro’.”

Roman eyed Virgil as he took his place beside him, flashing the anxious side a half hearted smile as he did. Virgil said nothing, only giving Roman a worried glance in return. The two locked eyes for a moment after. Virgil searched Romans eyes, trying to read him, before giving up and going back to finishing his meal. Roman did the same, trying his hardest to ignore the anxious side beside him.

Roman gave up a few minutes later. He couldn’t help but be hyper aware of Virgil. Every move the anxious side made Roman noticed, no matter how slight it was. 

Eventually Roman was freed from his self inflicted plight when Virgil got up to leave. He watched as Virgil disappeared from his peripheral vision, retuning a few seconds later as the anxious side made his way upstairs. 

Once Virgil was gone Roman let out a quiet sigh of relief. He could finally eat his meal in peace. This feeling of relief only lasted a few seconds though as Roman soon felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Someone was watching him. 

Roman briefly scanned the room trying to find who it was. Eventually his gaze settled on Thomas and Logan, who he hadn’t even realized were in the room.

They were both sitting in Thomas’ living room relaxing. Thomas was messing around on his phone while Logan was researching something, having set up Thomas’ Laptop on the coffee table. Thomas was completely oblivious to what was going on around him, but the logical side had clearly noticed something was off with Roman. 

The two locked eyes with each other, the logical sides eyes narrowing into a searching glare. Roman blinked in surprise before retuning to his meal, attempting to ignore him. 

Logan kept this up for a few more minutes as Roman tried eat, resisting the urge to squirm as the logical side’s gaze burned into him. Suddenly, the logical side blinked in surprise. Roman watched as worry etched itself onto Logan’s face, his lips turning into a hard frown. 

He watched as Logan quickly turned to Patton, getting his attention, then gestured to Roman. The Royal flashed the logical side a confused look but Logan brushed it off with a shrug, putting on a more neutral expression. Roman then directed the look at Patton who only gave him a knowing smile in return.

“Hey Thomas?” The elder called from the kitchen.

The host looked up from his phone, “What is it Patton?”

“Could you go shopping? You’re running low on food and, as much as I‘d like to, we can’t continuously bring stuff out of your mind palace.”

“Sure!”Thomas agreed with a nod, getting off the couch, “Do you have a list?”

“Yep!” The elder exclaimed with a smile, handing their host a piece of paper, “I just finished it.”

“Alright, I’ll be back in a bit!” Thomas called as he grabbed his keys.

“Drive safe Kiddo!” Patton called back, watching as the door closed behind him.

Once they were sure Thomas was gone the two elders went back to what they had been doing. Patton continued to clean the kitchen while Logan turned his attention back to Thomas’ laptop, both acting like nothing had happened. Roman eyed them both sceptically before going back to his food, now unsettled by the calm air that fell over the room.

 

Patton was at Roman’s side the moment he finished his last bite. The bubbly side flashed his signature smile as he grabbed the now empty dishes.

“Can you head up to me and Lo’s room please?” The bubbly side asked as he disappeared into the kitchen.

Roman eyed him with worry, “Why?”

“Well you don’t want Thomas or Virgil overhearing our conversation do you?”

Roman went wide eyed, turning from Patton to Logan and back again. Logan shrugged again when he caught the Royal’s horrified expression.

“You may be an amazing actor,” Logan stated, eyeing Roman with worry, “But acting can only do so much when one knows your act is an act.”

Roman stared blankly at Logan as his word sunk in. Eventually the Royal pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Of course. The discomfort he’d felt earlier wasn’t just from Logan’s judging gaze, it was because he’d been reading his aura.

“I guess I’ll be waiting in your room then,” Roman announced, catching the look of triumph on Logan’s face, “Though you shouldn’t leave me waiting for too long.”

“Don’t worry Ro’,” Patton called as the Royal made his way to the stairs, “I’ll be up just as soon as I finish with your dishes.”

Roman sighed again. At least now he didn’t have to worry about getting Patton alone. Now he just had to figure out what to tell him.

 

When Roman stepped into the elders room he was surprised. It wasn’t anything like he’d expected. They’d made the walls a two toned blue, which went well with the plush beige carpet they’d chosen. There were also fairy lights strung around the room, bathing everything in a soft white glow.

Pushed off to the side of the room was a wardrobe and two small dressers, along with a full body mirror. Next to dressers were two massive bookcases and beside those was a desk. It was similar in size to the one in him and Virgil’s room. Pens, pencils and papers were stacked neatly on the desk and there was a handful of worn books piled beside it.

Just to the right of the desk was Logan’s bed, neatly made with not a single wrinkle to be seen. The exact opposite could be said about Patton’s bed, which was opposite Logan’s. The covers were untucked and had been haphazardly thrown onto the bed along with handful of stuffed animals. 

At the foot of Patton’s bed was what seemed like a toy chest, buried under an army stuffed animals, most likely the ones Patton couldn’t fit on his bed. On the wall above the pile were three shelves. The first two were overflowing with board games, old and new, while the third was lined with brightly coloured photo albums. 

Roman looked around the room one more time and smiled. It was the perfect mix of order and chaos for the two elders, a mess where everything had it’s place. The Royal glanced at the dressers for a moment, tempted to search through them, before forcing himself to look through one of the photo albums instead. The elders deserved some privacy after all.

 

The Royal skimmed over the albums on the shelf, unsure of which one to look through. He’d started to reach for the brightest one, then noticed another that seemed out of place. Pulling it down Roman looked over the cover.

Unlike the other albums this one had a plain leather cover and it had obviously seen better days. It was worn down along the edges with some deep cuts down the back. On top of that it seemed hand made as the binding was hand stitched and poorly done. He could even tell that it was made up of scraps rather than one full piece of leather.

Curious of its contents, Roman sat down on the floor beside Patton’s bed and flipped it open. The first few pictures weren’t that notable. They were just a handful of landscape shots of fields, forests and towns. About four pages in Roman was contemplating grabbing another album, then he spotted something he thought he’d never see. It was a picture of Patton. One from at least fifteen years ago.

 

The picture was from a time before Patton had gotten his glasses, and if Roman remembered right that was a time the elder refused to talk about. 

The young side looked like a prisoner. His clothes were a plain cloth, he had shackles around his ankles, didn’t have any shoes, and he was filthy. The picture was like a mugshot, probably taken after a fight. He was cut, bruised, and bawling his eyes out. Even so Roman could see a wide smile on the elders face.

Roman stared at the picture, stunned, before flipping the page. The first thing he saw when he did was an almost identical picture of Logan. 

The logical side had on the same thing as Patton and, like him, didn’t have his glasses. Both his hands and feet were shackled and there was a large swollen spot on his face where someone had punched him. Along with the swelling he had a black eye, multiple bruises, and a sickening amount of dried blood covering his body. What ever had happened Logan had surely taken the blunt of the attack. 

Unlike Patton, Logan’s face was devoid of all emotion, making him look defeated. The only thing that gave him away were his eyes. It was difficult to spot, but there was a determined fire burning behind them.

There were a few more pictures next to Logan’s of what looked like a mining operation and a slave camp. The next page had more pictures of the elders, this time together and with someone he didn’t recognize. If he didn’t know any better the Royal might have mistaken the unknown man for Thomas. The three of them looked happy together, despite the horrible conditions they were obviously in. 

Roman went to flip the page again, but stopped when he heard the door open. Without thinking the Royal flashed the album away, mentality cursing himself afterwards for his panicked reaction. He looked away guiltily as Patton walked up to him with a worried smile. Hopefully the elder wouldn’t notice it was missing.

“Hey Ro’, hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long,” the elder said moving to sit beside him.

“N-not at all!” Roman said, putting on a smile of his own, “You actually scared me when you opened the door.”

Patton snickered, “let me guess, you were looking through the photo albums.”

Crap.

“W-well I saw them, yes, but I was more lost in the decor.” He lied, “There’s a lot more to take in compared to me and Virgil’s room.”

“Ah, I guess we did cram quite a bit in here,” Patton said rubbing his neck and laughing. 

The room fell quiet as Patton pulled his legs in so he was sitting criss-cross. He watched Roman from the corner of his eye as the Royal turned away, his brow furrowed in thought.

The elder continued watching Roman as the Royal began to pick at the carpet, “So... what’s on your mind Ro’?”

Roman flinched slightly at the question, staying silent as he continued to pick at the carpet. Patton waited patiently. He knew better then to push for an answer, especially when it came to touchy subjects. The elder had learned that much from his infrequent chats with the so called ‘Dark Sides’.

After a few more minutes of strained silence Patton spoke, “You know, I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

Roman grimaced.

“...I ...” He hesitated, trying his best to sort out his thoughts, “I was thinking this morning and some... unpleasant thoughts started hitting me.”

“Of course Its nothing I haven’t had to deal with before, but today... well they hit me pretty hard...” The Royal explained looking to Patton for his reaction.

The elder hummed in understanding, “Things from your past coming back to haunt you?”

“In a way...” the Royal said vaguely.

Patton bit his tongue, stoping himself from pushing the Royal. He didn’t really like when people were vague with him, it was one of the reasons he tried to stick close to Logan. The logical side could easily fill in missing bits of information with his ability. At the same time Patton could gauge the conversation from a distance and take over in more touchy-feely situations.

The bubbly side briefly contemplated going to grab the younger at that moment. He decided against it though as it would most likely make Roman less talkative. 

Patton sighed internally when Roman stayed silent, “Were these thoughts triggered by your laughing fit with Virgil this morning?”

Roman flinched again, “So you heard that huh...”

“From start to finish,” the elder said with a nod.

Roman went silent again. After about a minute he nodded slowly, “Hearing him laugh then having him make one of his usual jabs not long after... “

Roman paused again as he thought of a way to phrase the next bit.

“... well it reminded me of when I was with the dark sides,” he finally said, being vague again, “We used to laugh and play together... now when we see each other we’re at each other’s throats.”

Roman balled his hands into fists as he let his words flow, “Remembering how close we were, how much trust we had in each other... then knowing that there’s now a rift between us. Words can’t describe how it makes me feel.”

“Have you tried talking with them?” Patton asked quietly seeing the pain in Roman’s eyes, “Seeing if you can mend whatever rift is driving you apart?”

“Even if I could it wouldn’t really help,” Roman replied, feeling tears form in his eyes, “this isn’t something words alone can fix.”

“I wish it was, I wish I could just talk to them and fix everything but they- He, won’t listen,” Roman continued, “Even if he just gave me a reason as to why he did what he did it would make this so much more bearable, but he won’t.”

The tears began to blur Roman’s vision, “I just want him to tell me why...”

They both fell silent as the tears started rolling down Roman’s cheeks. Without missing a beat the elder wrapped his arms around Roman, holding him tight. They stayed that way for awhile as the Royals tears silently streamed down his face.

Eventually Patton pulled away, letting Roman wipe at his face.

“Feeling any better?”

Roman nodded, “a little...”

“That’s good,” Patton replied with a sad smile.

“...I’m going to go wait for Thomas to get back,” the elder said helping Roman to his feet, “You go wash up and relax for the rest of the day.”

“Alright...” Roman said making his way out of the room, “... Thank you Patton, for listening to me.”

Patton flashed Roman a sad smile as the door closed behind him, “No problem, Kiddo.”


	10. Quiet Time

Virgil shivered as he turned up the volume on his headphones, trying desperately to focus on the video playing on his phone. He’d assumed the others would’ve started a heated discussion by now or at least started watching something on TV. Instead the house was dead silent, with the occasional voice drifting up the stairs.

It was making the anxious side nervous, not hearing much from the others. No matter where he was he could usually hear at least one of them. Roman pandering to the pompous nobles, Patton chatting up a storm with anyone who would listen, or Logan getting into a heated argument, there was always something from one of them. 

The only time any of them were this quiet was at night. Even so he could still hear their snores if he sat outside their rooms. On top of that there were still the ‘Dark Sides’ running around, at least the ones that made regular visits to the castle anyways. They were always setting up pranks for people to find in the morning, so it wasn’t uncommon to catch their distant laughter as they raced through the halls...

 

Virgil curled in on himself as he shivered again, he didn’t need to think about that right now. He shook his head in an attempt to clear it before turning back to his phone. Eventually the anxious side’s attention wandered again and he found himself stealing quick glances at the door. He was tempted to head back downstairs to check on the others. At the same time he didn’t want to bother them, or give them a reason to worry about him. 

Just as Virgil began to debate the idea the door to the room swung open, causing him to jump as it hit the wall with a loud thud. Ripping off his headphones the anxious side whipped around to face the sudden intruder, only to find Roman standing in the open doorway. He looked mortified, like he hadn’t meant for anyone to see him.

“D-Dude!” Virgil shouted as Roman stood frozen in place, “Warn me before you do stuff like that!”

“M-my apologizes Virgil,” The Royal stuttered, carefully closing the door behind him, “I didn’t mean to use that much force.”

Virgil’s expression softened slightly, “Just be careful next time.”

Virgil held the Royals gaze for a moment before putting his headphones back on. He kept an eye on Roman, assuming the Royal would do what he needed to and leave. The anxious side was surprised when instead of leaving the Royal made his way over to the bed, flopping face first into the space beside him.

He watched Roman from the corner of his eye as the Royal rolled onto his side and curled in on himself. As Virgil watched Roman get comfortable he couldn’t help but feel the scene was familiar. The anxious side frowned, where had he seen this before?

Virgil bit his lower lip as the video continued to play on his phone. He tried to dig through the few memories he had but came up blank. Virgil kept digging, if it was a memory trying to surface it must have been important. Just as Virgil got close to recalling the memory the feeling began to fade. The anxious side let out a frustrated sigh as it disappeared completely. He hated being so close to remembering but falling just short of it.

Virgil was so caught up in his head he almost didn’t notice the rustling of sheets beside him. Glancing over at the source of the noise the anxious side found Roman starring at him. He rolled his eyes as he pushed his frustrations aside.

Letting out another sigh Virgil took off one of his headphones, “What do you want Princy?”

Roman blinked at him then flashed him a tired smile, “Well I was wondering what you were watching.”

“Oh.... nothing much,” Virgil said showing him the screen, “Right now I’m watching some Disney theory’s, but I’ve just been letting stuff auto play.”

“Really?” Roman said, pushing himself up to get a better look at the video, “What’s this one about?”

Virgil turned the screen back around, “I think this ones about the true villain of Frozen, maybe. I haven’t been paying much attention.”

“Oh?,” The Royal replied with a smirk, “Too busy checking me out?”

Virgil rolled his eyes again, “You wish!”

He pulled his headphones off completely, “I was just distracted by my thoughts, nothing out of the ordinary.”

“Hmm... then would you mind if we restarted the video and watched it together?” The Royal asked, getting into a sitting position, “It sounds interesting, and I don’t have anything to do right now.”

“Plus I see some others that might be interesting,” The Royal added, pointing to the recommend videos.

Virgil turned from him to the phone and back, shocked, “uhhh- Sure? We should probably use my laptop though...”

Roman nodded, “Why don’t we hook it up to the TV then? It’s a bigger screen and we can get into a more comfortable position.”

“Alright,” The anxious side said hopping off the bed, “Let’s get this set up.”

 

A few hours later the two had managed to watch a good chunk of Film Theory’s videos and at some point had transitioned into more science based videos, if you could even call them that. They’d stopped their YouTube binge briefly twice. Once when Patton brought them up some sandwiches for lunch and a second time when he called them down for supper.

The two sides were just finishing up a video where someone decided to test if frozen gasoline would burn when Roman let out a loud yawn. 

Virgil snickered, “Tired Princy?”

“Just a tad,” The Royal said with another yawn.

“let’s call it a night then,” The anxious side said as he stood up and stretched, “it’s getting kinda late anyways.”

Roman nodded, doing the same, “sounds like a plan.”

With another yawn Roman made his way out of the room, leaving Virgil to clean up. The anxious side was almost finished putting the cords away when he felt his phone vibrate. It was then that he remembered his earlier conversation with his friend.

Without hesitation the anxious side fished out his phone to read the message.

‘Soooo~ what happened to talking later?’

Virgil cringed, ‘Sorry, I got distracted.’

‘That’s Nice...’ Lennox responded, ‘You could’ve given me a heads up.’

‘I know, I know!’ Virgil texted back, ‘Just... nvm what’d ya want?’

There was a pause, ‘I need you over here.’

‘What?’

‘I need you to come over’ Lennox replied, ‘I know it’ll be hard to get away but I need you here now.’

Virgil bit his lip and glanced at the door, ‘it cant wait?’

‘No.’

Virgil sighed, ‘Alright. Give me an hour or two and I’ll be on my way.’

‘I’ll be waiting.’

Virgil sighed again as he shoved his phone back into his pocket. This was going to be interesting. Getting away from Roman would be a challenge but not impossible, after that the biggest problem would be getting to the front door. If it was just Thomas downstairs it’d be easy but if he ran into Patton or Logan he was done for. Those two were like walking lie detectors, he couldn’t get anything past them.

The anxious side shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Right now he needed to focus on getting past Roman. Virgil went back to cleaning up the cords as he tried to come up with a plan, while also waiting for the Royal to return. He didn’t have to wait long as Roman soon walked through the door, heading straight for his pyjamas while ignoring the anxious side completely.

As Roman sluggishly changed into his pyjamas Virgil finally came up with a plan. With how tried Roman was he would most likely pass out the moment he got under the covers, so all the anxious side had to do was stall until he did.

With his plan in mind Virgil watched Roman closely, while also slowing his pace so the Royal would, hopefully, crawl into bed before him. This turned out to be a challenge as Roman’s bedtime routine was way longer then his. The anxious side even had to stop at one point and fold his jeans just to make sure the Royal would finish before him. Thankfully by the time Virgil was finished changing Roman had crawled into bed, giving the anxious side the chance he needed to sneak out.

With a relived sigh Virgil opened up one of his drawers and started going through it. After a bit of searching he pulled out a pair of purple plaid pyjama pants, putting them on as quietly as he could. All he had to do once they were on was grab his hoodie and shoes, then he could-

“Why’re you puttn’ those on...?” The Royal suddenly muttered, causing Virgil to freeze.

The anxious side whipped around to stare wide eyed at the drowsy Royal. He had pushed himself up slightly in order to see what the other was doing. Terrified Virgil began frantically wracking his brain, searching for something to say.

“A-ah, I- I was a bit cold last night so I figured I’d wear these tonight,” he eventually forced out, avoiding eye contact.

Roman hummed in response as he snuggled closer to his pillow, seemingly satisfied with the blatant lie. 

Virgil let out a shaky breath as he heard Roman’s breathing slow down and turn to soft snores, signalling that the Royal was actually asleep this time. As quietly as he could Virgil finished putting on his pyjama bottoms, picked up his jacket and shoes, then headed for the door. 

He turned back to look at the sleeping Royal as he turned off the lights. Virgil felt bad lying to Roman after they’d spent the day together, but it couldn’t be helped. If Lennox needed to talk with him in person then he needed to get there, no matter what he had to do to get away.


	11. Late Night Getaway

The anxious side let out another sigh of relief as the door clicked shut behind him. He’d made it past the first hurdle, now he had to get past the other three. Virgil paused for a moment, taking the chance to calm his nerves, before slipping on his jacket and shoes.

Once those were on he began to make his way down the hall, making sure to be extra careful as he passed by the others rooms. He didn’t know if they’d gone to bed yet, and even if they had it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. 

The elders were usually light sleepers, rousing at the slightest noise. Thankfully the other night was one of the rare exceptions as both had been utterly exhausted from dealing with the angry nobility. It also helped that Sleep had decided to pay the elders a visit...

Virgil stopped for a moment and shook his head in an attempt to clear it. He needed to focus right now. With a few deep breaths the anxious side continued, slowly making his way to the stairs. 

Once there he almost let out a sigh of relief. The living room was quiet, with the occasional snore breaking the silence. Peeking past the railings Virgil was able to spot Thomas sprawled out on the couch, fast asleep. The anxious side’s pulse began to race as he hurried down the stairs, a devilish grin on his face. 

Virgil had just made it to the kitchen entrance when his body froze. The colour drained from his face as he heard footsteps making their way down the hall, towards the stairs. Without a second thought the anxious side dove into the kitchen and pressed his back up against the cupboards trying to make himself as small a possible. As an extra precaution the anxious side clamped a hand over his mouth, stifling any sound he might make.

Virgil’s heart pounded in his ears as the footsteps made their down the stairs, their owner letting out a heavy sigh about half way down.

“Geez...” the intruder mumbled as they made their way over to their host.

“Hey kiddo,” they said softly, probably shaking Thomas slightly, “you should head up to your room if you’re this tired.”

Oh god, it was Patton.

“Don’t wanna.... ‘s comfy here,” was the hosts muffled reply.

The elder chuckled, “I know, but you really should get to bed.”

“Don’t wanna....” The host whined.

The rustle of blankets could be heard as the elder helped Thomas to his feet, “I know, I know.... how’s about I tuck you in? Would you like that?”

“Mmmm.....”

“Okay, then let’s go get you into bed.”

Virgil listened closely as the two made their way back up the stairs, counting every step they made. Once the footsteps got far enough away the anxious side scrambled to the door. As quickly as he could Virgil grabbed Thomas’ spare keys and unlocked the door, rushing out the second he heard the last lock click.

As quietly as he could Virgil closed the door and re-locked it, shoving the keys into his pocket once he was done. Carefully the anxious side backed his way down the front steps, his breaths staring to come short and fast. He stared wild eyed at the door as he sank to his knees and forced himself to take deep breaths. Tears pricked his eyes as he began to shake violently.

That had scared him more then it should have.

After a few minutes of coaxing, Virgil forced himself to his feet. He needed to get moving. Slowly the anxious side made his way to the edge of the driveway and stared down the empty street. With one final deep breath the anxious side pulled his hood up, shoved his hands into his pockets, and started down the sidewalk. 

He kept his eyes focused on the houses as he passed, counting them as he went. 

One... two... 

The leaves rustled in the trees and Virgil forced himself to stay focused on the houses, quickening his pace.

Three... Four... Five!

The anxious side let out a relived sigh as he walked up to the familiar door. Within seconds of him reaching it the door was flung open to reveal a young brunette waiting for him. His dark eyes shone with relief as he stepped aside, making room for Virgil to come inside.

“I’m glad you made it Virgil!” he exclaimed, the relief in his voice apparent, “C’mon in and get comfortable, you’ll probably be here awhile.”

The anxious side smirked as his friend closed the door behind him, “I would hope so Lennox, I’d be pissed if I had to go through all this just for a minute long conversation.”

“So just getting to see your friends doesn’t make this trip worth it~?” Someone cooed from the living room, “Thats harsh Virge~”

“Don’t start drama queen,” Virgil said as he kicked off his shoes, “You haven’t exactly made an effort to keep in touch with me.”

“Harsh but true!” Lennox called from the kitchen, “You want anything Virg’?”

“Can I have some coffee?” Virgil asked as he hopped onto the couch.

The room went silent for a moment.

Virgil turned around and met Lennox’s disapproving gaze, “I‘ll take that as a no.”

Lennox sighed, “Would hot chocolate work as a substitute for coffee?”

Virgil turned back around and thought for a moment, “yeah hot chocolate‘s fine.” 

Lennox nodded, “I’ll get some ready then.”

Virgil sighed and closed his eyes, listen as Lennox stared rummaging through the cupboards. Unconsciously the anxious side began to relax into the plush cushions, all the earlier tension leaving his body. He would never admit it but being around the two younger men always put him at ease. In a strange way they reminded him of the others, kind, protective and loud.

As he began to sink deeper into the cushion Virgil heard a slight chuckle from across the room.

“Your that tired already~?” Xaivion teased, a smug grin on his face, “I thought Virgil Sanders could withstand more then this~”

“Oh shut up,” Virgil groaned, “this is the first chance I’ve gotten to rest in months.” 

Even with his eyes closed Virgil could tell Xaivion was rolling his eyes, “And whose fault is that?”

Virgil groaned again and forced himself to sit up, opening his eyes to glare at the brunette. Xaivion responded by flashing him a smug smile. Virgil’s glare quickly changed to a look of confusion as he spotted a bright pink mark on the younger face.

“What’s that under your eye?” Virgil asked, leaning forward in an attempt to get a better look.

Xaivion gave him a weird look before realizing what the anxious side was talking about.

“Oh! You mean this?” The dark haired man said pointing to the pink mark, “it’s a tattoo, I got it a few weeks ago.”

He then brushed his hair away from his left ear revealing a tiny, blood red dagger dangling from two glittering blue jewels, “went and got my ear pierced too.”

Virgil stared at the tattoo and earring for a moment before humming in approval, “they really suit you.”

“Thanks!” Xaivion said with a smile, “I wanted to do something to try and set me and Lennox apart.”

“And I keep saying that you don’t have to do stuff like that,” Lennox chimed in, setting a mug down in front of Virgil, “We’re already easy enough to tell apart.”

“Yet people still get us confused,” Xaivion replied, making room for Lennox to sit beside him, “Hence the reason I’m trying to look different.”

Virgil gave Xaivion a skeptical look which made the dark haired man sigh, “ok, that and I want to draw attention away from my dead eye.”

“Jeez...” Virgil said with a chuckle, “I don’t understand how you can be so insecure about your looks, yet still have the confidence to flirt with everyone in a five mile radius.”

“Yeah well, old habits die hard,” Xaivion said with a shrug. 

He pointed an accusing finger at Virgil, “You should know that better then anyone.”

Virgil grimaced as he picked up his mug to take a sip, “don’t even start.”

They all turned away as silence fell over the room. Eventually Lennox cleared his throat, drawing the others attention.

“Could you tell us what happened with Roman?”

Virgil grimaced again at the question, “Right.... I did say I would tell you about that huh?”

The room went quiet again as Virgil thought about what to say.

“Thomas had just gotten home when you called, and we were all huddled in the kitchen,” Virgil explained, “I ran to the bathroom so I could answer without worrying the others and I guess Princy wanted to check on me. Course he heard me sobbing through the door so he stayed and listened to the rest of the conversation.”

“I guess he felt super guilty about the whole thing, so he told me almost immediately afterwards that he’d been listening,” the anxious side continued, “I was angry at first, enough to scream in his face, but for some reason I just kinda... accepted the whole thing.”

Virgil rubbed the back of his neck, “I don’t know why but it just seemed... right, for Roman to know.”

“How much does he know now?” Lennox asked, a sympathetic look on his face.

“Only what I said during our conversation,” Virgil replied, “I still have to explain everything else.”

Lennox nodded, “You should do that soon, it’ll make things much easier to handle if you have someone other than us to talk to.”

“I’ll try and talk to him tomorrow,” Virgil said, attempting to change the subject, “Anyways what was so important that you had to tell me in person?”

“Ah right... that...” Lennox said, his expression darkening.

The younger man went quiet for a moment and stared at his mug, seemingly lost in thought. Eventually he picked it up and took a sip.

“First things first; they ramped up their efforts to find you and your host,” Lennox said putting his mug back down, “Thing is something, or someone, has been messing with them so they’ve had to call off all efforts while they reorganize themselves.”

Virgil let out a sigh of relief, “Good to know I have one less thing to worry about for now.”

Xaivion nodded in response before him and Virgil turned their attention back to Lennox.

“Second thing,” the man said holding up two fingers, “We now know their original objective, to find and kill a certain host that’s branded with something called a ‘rose mark’.”

“What’s so special about this host that has these guys wanting them dead?” Virgil asked, titling his head slightly in confusion.

“From what we know it’s because of the ‘rose mark’ she had,” Xaivion replied, “It’s not just some random ass tattoo, it’s an inherited thing and it gives its bearer some damn good perks.”

“I’m just gonna pretend I didn’t hear that,” Lennox mumbled, flashing Xaivion an angry glare. The younger of the two responded with a devilish smirk.

“... ‘She Had’?” Virgil repeated, his eyes narrowing, “whats that supposed to mean?”

Lennox frowned as he took another sip of his tea, “that’s the next thing I was going to mention.”

“...The person they were looking for was a girl named Crystal,” Lennox explained, “She was... a friend, of our old host and she was killed the same day he was.”

Xaivion nodded, “Turns out the guys that got her weren’t very smart and missed the fact that she had the mark on her.”

“This has in turn lead to them hunting down and mass murdering hosts,” Lennox continued, “Hence the reason we’re here now.”

The room went quiet as they let their words sink in. Eventually Virgil spoke up.

“How did you find out about this?”

Lennox and Xaivion locked eyes and nodded before turning back to Virgil.

“You remember Perry right?”

Virgil scoffed, “‘Course I do. It was a massive shock learning that there was more of you guys.”

“Well it turns out that he’s moved in with one of Crystals side’s, Carla,” Lennox said rubbing the back of his neck.

Virgil opened his mouth to ask another question but was cut off by Xaivion, “Yes, Crystals side’s are still running around, no we don’t know why they didn’t die with her.”

“It could’ve been an accident, or maybe it was on purpose we don’t know for sure,” Xaivion continued, “All we know is that by killing Crystal those bastards only multiplied their problem.” 

Lennox glared at Xaivion again, “what he’s trying to say is that Crystal’s side’s both have her mark.”

Virgil crossed his arms, “So instead of solving their problems they made them worse?” 

Xaivion nodded, “Yep!”

“And because they haven’t bothered to check their victims we were dragged into this?”

“Yes...” Lennox answered, rubbing the back of his neck, “... and no.”

Virgil stared at his friend with a puzzled look on his face but Lennox just shook his head, “I don’t have any concrete evidence so I won’t say anything more right now, but it is possible that there’s more then one reason they went after you.”

Virgil shivered as a chill ran down his spine, “I hope you’re wrong.”

“I do too,” Lennox said as he stood up and stretched.

Xaivion stood up as well a few seconds later, so Virgil took that as a cue that the conversation was over. With a yawn the anxious side pushed himself to his feet, his lips turning down into a slight frown.

“Guess it’s time for me to head back,” Virgil stated as he headed for the door, “don’t wanna end up passing out on your couch.”

“You want an escort?” Xaivion called from the stairs.

Virgil paused for a moment and bit his lip, “... I... I should be good.”

Lennox looked at the anxious side with worry before suddenly running upstairs. Curious as to what was happening the anxious side finished pulling on his shoes and waited. A few minutes later Lennox returned carrying a fairly sizeable book. 

The young man flashed Virgil a worried smile as he handed him the book, “I’ve been meaning to give this too You for awhile, I thought it might help.”

Without a word Virgil took the book and glanced at the title, nodding in thanks as he pulled up his hood.

Lennox stayed by the door as Virgil made his way out, “Stay safe Virg’...”

The anxious side nodded again, “I’ll try.”

With that Lennox closed the door, leaving Virgil to begin his lonely walk home.


	12. All I Know

Roman woke with a start, his eyes going wide with fear. Immediately his gaze began to dart around the room before landing on Virgil. The anxious side was fast asleep beside him, blissfully unaware of his surroundings. Roman let out a shaky sigh as he watched his chest rise and fall with each breath. Slowly he turned to the mirror to look at his terrified expression.

It had just been a nightmare. Virgil was safe, everything was ok.

Slowly Roman felt himself relax, his rapid heartbeat beginning to even out as he calmed down. Eventually the Royal let out another sigh and looked towards the window. A faint stream of sunlight was beginning to shine through the curtains.

The Royal pushed his bangs back and frowned. There wasn’t much of a point in trying to go back to sleep now.

He stole a quick glance at the sleeping side again before pushing himself out of bed. Slowly the Royal gathered his clothes and made himself look presentable. Once finished he took another look at Virgil and grimaced. He didn’t want to risk waking him or the others so he’d have to wait downstairs.

Roman crept down the hall As quietly as he could, freezing every time the floor made even the slightest creek. He knew how easy it was to wake the two elders and as much as he loved Patton’s cooking, those two needed their rest. 

After multiple pauses, and a few near trips, Roman finally found himself in the living room. He briefly glanced at the empty room, noting how peaceful it seemed and how restless that seemed to make him. Without thinking the Royal let out frustrated sigh. 

The second he did Roman heard a surprised yelp and loud thud come from the kitchen. The Royal hurried over to the noise and cringed when he saw his host kneeling in front of the open fridge, clutching the back of his head.

“Sorry Thomas,” Roman apologized, offering the host his hand, “I assumed that I was the only one awake.”

Thomas took his hand and stood up, still rubbing the sore spot on his head, “it’s alright, I did too.”

The host closed the fridge and flashed Roman a tired smile, “Were you having trouble sleeping?”

Roman froze at the question before letting his shoulders sag, a defeated look on his face.

“I-....yes...”

The Royal rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, “I had a nightmare and didn’t see the point in trying to sleep again...”

“Really?” Thomas said giving Roman a worried yet questioning look, “Do you get nightmares often?”

Roman bit his lip and tried to avoid the hosts gaze, “Unfortunately yes, three or four times a month actually.”

“Sometimes I’ll have more, sometimes less,” The Royal admitted, trying to play off his confession with a shrug.

“... these nightmares involve the others don’t they?”

The Royal froze, his darkening expression confirming the hosts question.

Thomas moved a bit closer, trying to meet the Royals gaze, “Do you want to talk about them?”

Roman bit his lip as he thought, eventually shaking his head.

“I’d...” Roman took a deep breath, “I’d rather not.”

The Royal lifted his gaze to lock eyes with the worried host, flashing him a self loathing smirk, “Sometimes its best to ‘let sleeping dogs lie’.”

Thomas frowned and nodded, unhappy with the response but not wanting to press the fanciful side further.

“Alright,” The host said laying a hand on the Royals shoulder, “but if you ever want to talk about it, I’m all ears.”

Roman smiled slightly “....Thanks Thomas.”

“No problem,” The host replied with a worried smile.

Without another word he reached past the Royal and grabbed a few of the muffins still left from the other day. After a moment Roman followed suit, grabbing a handful of cookies then a glass and some milk. 

“Now I believe it’s my turn for questions,” Roman said as the host began to eat, “Why are you up so early?”

“Mmpfh?” The host swallowed his mouthful, “Ah, I’d planned to do some filming with friends last week but things came up so we had to cancel.”

“Everyone’s free today and the weather is perfect so we’re gonna try again before something else comes up,” Thomas explained between bites.

Roman nodded in understanding, starting on his own food as he tried to stay focused on the host.

“Will there be any filming at the house?”

“I don’t think so,” Thomas answered with a frown, “but if there is I’ll find a way to get ahold of you.”

Roman took another bite as he thought for a moment, a smile quickly spreading across his face as an idea came to him. With a snap of his fingers he made a cellphone appear in front of him.

Thomas stared at him a confused look on his face, then looked down at Roman’s phone and had to keep himself from laughing and spewing bits of muffin everywhere.

The Royal raised an eyebrow as the host attempted to swallow, “What?”

“S-Sorry Roman Its just Ah ,” Thomas paused for a moment to catch his breath, “Your phone case....”

Roman looked down at his phone case then turned back to the host with an annoyed glare, “I’m your creative side, what were you expecting?”

“I don’t know, but it definitely wasn’t a glitter rainbow!” Thomas replied finally laughing.

“Oh for the love of-,” The Royal sighed and rolled his eyes quickly moving to sit across from Thomas,  
“Look, Do you have your phone right now or not?”

The host gave a quick nod, pulling said phone out of his pocket while trying to calm himself down. Within seconds the fanciful side had it unlocked and was adding a few new numbers to Thomas’ contacts. He handed, well more like threw, it back once he was done, letting out a slightly annoyed huff as the host wiped a few laughter induced tears from his eyes.

“I just added me, Patton and Logan’s numbers into your phone,” The Royal explained trying his hardest to ignore Thomas, “So now if something happens you can get ahold of us.” 

“Patton has a phone?” Thomas asked finally calm enough to continue eating.

“Of course, he was the first of us to get one,” Roman replied, “After that I got mine, then we forced Logan to get one, we gave one to Remy and finally Virgil got his.”

Thomas gave him a confused look, “Remy... You mean Sleep right? The Dark Side you guys keep talking about?”

“Yeah,” Roman replied with a nod, “His phone was supposed to be Virgil’s, but he got fed up with the near constant calls so he pawned it off on Remy.”

“Huh...” The host crossed his arms, “So if you all have one why didn’t you give me Virgil’s number as well?”

Roman turned away as he rubbed the back of his neck, “Because until he pulled it out the other day none of us knew he actually had one.”

Thomas stared at Roman with a blank look on his face, “...what? But you just said-“

“I know what I said, but that was just a guess on when he got it,” Roman said with a sigh.

“As far as we knew he was still using his beaten up MP3 player,” The Royal explained, “I guess he finally decided to get an upgrade and didn’t want a repeat of the last time.”

“I guess that’s fair,” The host said as he finished off his muffin.

He quickly wiped the crumbs from his face before getting up. The hosts mind seemed to be elsewhere as he hurried over to the door. Roman watched from the table as a look of confusion crossed Thomas’ face.

“Hey Roman?” The host called out, kneeling down to pick something up, “Were any of you messing with my spare keys the other day?”

Roman looked at him with an equally confused face, “As far as I’m aware none of us went near the door yesterday. Why?”

“I just found them in my shoes,” Thomas explained as he hung them back up, “but if you guys weren’t messing with them then I guess they just fell from the hook.”

Roman’s eyes narrowed slightly as something clicked in his mind, “yeah, I guess they did.”

The host shrugged, “oh well! I’ll see you later Roman!”

“Good luck!” The creative side called out, the door soon slamming closed behind the host.

Once Thomas was gone Roman quickly scarfed down the rest of his cookies and went over to the door. He looked closely at the hook Thomas had put the spare keys on and could immediately tell there was no way that they could have fallen themselves. That meant one of two things had happened. Either someone actually had been fooling around at the door earlier, or someone had used them and missed the hook when they tired to put them back.

Something seemed to click in his mind so the Royal quickly cleaned up his mess and crept back up the stairs, heading straight for his room. Once there he made sure Virgil was still asleep before beginning his search. 

Almost immediately he noticed the anxious side’s jacket and pyjama bottoms. They’d both been left in a pile at the foot of the bed, which Roman noted as strange since one had been left on the desk chair while the other he’d wore to bed.

He bent down to get a closer look at the pile. After a bit of inspection the Royal noticed there were dirty marks on the pyjamas, specifically from the knees down. It was a dead giveaway that Virgil had been kneeling outside. 

As he went to put them down Roman saw the corner of what seemed to be a book sticking out from under the bed. He pulled it out and after getting a good look at it he could tell it had seen better days. It was obvious considering the worn down cover and slightly warped pages.

Roman hummed slightly as he looked over the cover. 'The ins and outs of Manifesters and Partials: a guide to being a Host’ was written on it in slightly faded gold lettering.  
From what he could tell the authors name was supposed to be directly under the title but it had mostly been rubbed away, leaving only the first letter and part of the last. Romans brows furrowed as he scanned the cover, trying to figure out how long it had been under the bed. He got so caught up in this that he nearly jumped when the sheets rustled above him.

Roman looked up quickly, his expression softening as he watched the colour drain from Virgil’s face.

“M-Morning Roman,” The anxious side stuttered, his eyes flicking from the book to the Royal and back again.

Roman stared at the anxious side and blinked, his lips forming a sympathetic smile.

“You missed the hook when you put the keys back.”

Virgil flinched at the statement then let his shoulders sag in defeat.

Roman gave Virgil a worried look before putting the book down and moving to sit beside him on the bed.

“You know...” he started, leaning back slightly, “the other day you said you’d explain the conversation with your friend.”

The Royal glanced at Virgil, “but I have yet to hear an explanation from you.”

The room went silent as Roman searched Virgil’s face, trying to gauge how the younger was doing.

“... Someone is hunting us,” Virgil suddenly muttered his expression dark, “and they’ve been slipping into the mind palace for months now.”

Roman’s eyes went wide as Vigil continued.

“I’d been fighting them off the best I could, even resorting to dragging them out when they became to much to handle,” Virgil explained drawing his knees to his chest, “b-but they kept coming, and t-then the other day...”

The anxious side began to cry, “T-There was too many of them, I-I couldn’t just fight t-them off so I.... I...”

“I Dragged You All Out Here!” Virgil exclaimed, a loud sob following his outburst, “I-I don... I don’t know h-how I did b-but... but I kn-knew if all f-four of us were out h-here t-then they wouldn’t b-be able to access the mind palace...”

The anxious side looked up at Roman and in that moment the Royal didn’t see the gloomy side. He saw a child, a terrified child that was lost and alone.

“I didn’t kn-know what else to d-do, I-I had to protect e-everyone somehow... I-I had to- to...!”

Roman stopped him there by pulling the anxious side into his arms. Virgil yelped at the sudden movement but quickly melted into a sobbing mess. Roman only squeezed tighter as Virgil let go, this time letting out all of the emotions he’d been trying to hide.

Roman began rubbing soothing circles into Virgil’s back and running his fingers through the younger’s hair.

"Shhhh... It's ok Virg, it's ok. I'm here, you’re safe,” The Royal started to coo, reassuring the sobbing mess in his arms, “just let it out, everything will be okay.”

Virgil’s sobs grew louder.

"Shhhh... it’s alright,” Roman continued, “You’re safe I won’t let anything hurt you.”

They stayed like this for what seemed like an eternity, Roman resorting to singing when he ran out of words to say. Slowly but surely Virgil calmed down, his sobs eventually giving way to whimpers and finally a content silence.

“Feeling better?” The Royal asked flashing Virgil a reassuring smile.

Virgil nodded slightly as he buried his face in Roman’s shoulder.

"I’m sorry for not telling you sooner but I.... I didn’t want to make you all worry," the anxious side muttered, “You all have so much to deal with right now, and we still don’t fully understand what’s happening.”

“We?” Roman ask, giving the anxious side a questioning look .

“My... friends,” Virgil answered with a sigh, pulling away from the Royal, “the ones I’ve been talking to.”

Roman let go of Virgil and let him sit up, “the ones you visited last night?”

Virgil cringed, “Y-Yeah...”

They both went silent again.

“Lennox and Xaivion,” Virgil eventually said, “that’s their names.”

Virgil started to fidget as he spoke, “I met them a few months ago, around the time I started dragging those things out of the mind palace.”

“Thomas was going to wake up soon and it was still too risky for me to go back into the mind palace,” He explained, “to keep from getting spotted I took a walk around the neighbourhood but I was still pretty shaken up.”

“If I’m remembering right Lennox had been at the hospital and was just walking home when he spotted me,” Virgil let out a nervous laugh, “I hadn’t noticed at the time but I was shaking pretty badly, so he did the first thing he could think of to help.”

Roman gave Virgil a questioning look, “which was?”

“He, ah...” the anxious side rubbed the back of his neck, “he dragged to his place, asked me if I wanted anything then buried me in blankets and ordered pizza.”

Roman flashed him a sympathetic smile, “I’m going to assume you were panicking the entire time.”

Virgil laughed again, “Yeah... it was an... interesting experience to say the least.”

Roman laughed along with the anxious side before putting a hand on his shoulder.

“You gonna be okay?”

Virgil nodded, wiping at his face, “I’ll be good for a little while at least.”

Roman let out an amused huff and pulled him into another hug.

“I promise that I’ll protect you and the others with everything I’ve got,”  
The Royal said running his fingers through the anxious side’s hair, “So whatever happens from now on we’re in it together, alright?”

Virgil pushed his face further into Roman’s shoulder, “Alright.”

The Royal smiled and gently pushed the anxious side away.

“Why don’t you go get washed up?” He said as he ruffled Virgil’s hair slightly, “I’ll head downstairs and make you something to eat, if Patton hasn’t already”

The anxious side smirked and straightened out his hair, “whatever you say Mom~”

Roman rolled his eyes in response as Virgil stood up, “Just go get cleaned up Sunshine.”

“I’m going, I’m going!” Virgil called as he made his way to the door.

The anxious side grabbed the door handle and paused for a moment, taking the chance to glance back at Roman who was now completely bathed in sunlight.

“Thank you Roman...” Virgil muttered before leaving the room.

Roman’s smile grew a little wider as the door closed behind him, “No problem Virgil.”


	13. How Bad Could It Get?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So minor spoiler for this chapter right here, but I thought some of you might like the heads up.
> 
> From here on out there’ll be some occasional flashbacks happening.
> 
> Each flashback will be separated from the rest of the story with a set of lines like the one shown below.  
> \- — — —— ————— —— — — -
> 
> There probably won’t be another for awhile but I figured I’d let people know beforehand so there’s no confusion.
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoy the chapter!

The smell of eggs and toast met Virgil as he reached the bottom of the stairs. The anxious side smiled as he turned to the kitchen, easily spotting Roman who was humming softly to himself as he cleaned up. The Royal paused briefly when he heard Virgil walk over.

Roman smiled and gestured to a plate set out on the table, “Im not the best at cooking so I hope scrambled eggs and toast is fine with you.”

The anxious side nodded as he moved to sit down, “As long as it’s edible I won’t complain.”

“Im not sure if I should be thankful or offended,” Roman replied with a laugh.

Virgil responded by rolling his eyes, a playful smirk forming on his face as he started to eat. A few bites in he paused to watch Roman as the Royal made his way from the kitchen over to the couches.

Virgil gave him a questioning look, “Aren’t you gonna eat too?”

“I already ate earlier,” Roman replied waving his hand in an attempt to dismiss the comment, “So I don’t need anything right now.”

The anxious side‘s eyes narrowed into a skeptical glare, “Really? what did you have?”

Roman tensed at the question, “some cookies...”

Virgil turned himself around in the chair so he could talk to Roman easier, “So cookies now count as breakfast, good to know.”

“Could you please stop questioning me and eat?” Roman said in a slightly annoyed tone.

Virgil’s smirk grew as he pushed his chair closer to the couch, “No ‘cause now Im going to bother you until you eat something actually nutritious.”

The Royal sighed, “Well I suggest you give up now because I’m not hungry and I probably won’t be for awhile.”

“Too bad,” the anxious side said as he poked Roman’s face, “Eat something.”

“No.”

“Eat.”

“No.”

“Eat.”

“Virgil...”

“Eat~.”

“Virgil stop.”

“I’ll stop when you get something to eat.”

They both went silent for a moment.

“Eeeeeeee-“

Roman snapped, “I Told You I’m Not Hungry So Shut Up Already!”

Virgil’s playful expression disappeared as he threw up his arms in defence, “Alright, Alright! I’ll stop, No need to shout.”

Roman’s eyes went wide as his mind registered his outburst, “O-Oh! I’m sorry Virgil, I didn’t-“

The anxious side put up a hand to stop him. 

“It’s alright Princy, I was just messing with you,” Virgil said his playful smirk returning, “though I do think you should have at least a bit more for breakfast.”

The anxious side jabbed his thumb back towards his plate, “I mean, It feels wrong eating a full meal when all you’ve had are a few cookies.”

The Royal let out a relived sigh and glanced at him, “Why didn’t you just say so?”

Virgil shrugged, “it’s more fun to mess with you.”

Roman let out an amused huff at the response before turning back to the anxious side.

“If it’s really bugging you that much then why don’t we share?”

Virgil’s smirk softened into a smile at the suggestion, “I’m fine with it If you are.“

The Royal smiled back and scooted over before patting the couch beside him, “Then get over here already.”

Virgil nodded and smiled before grabbing his plate and passing it off to Roman. The Royal smiled back as he placed it on the coffee table, making sure it was out of the way as the anxious side hopped over the back of the couch and landed beside him. 

“So what now?” Virgil asked as he grabbed a piece of toast from the plate, “We gonna watch Tv or something?”

The Royal thought for a moment, nibbling on the other piece of toast as he did, “I’m not quite sure.”

“I don’t want to risk waking up the other two,” Roman continued, thinking out loud, “that and there’s probably nothing interesting on right now anyways.”

“I guess you’re right,” Virgil agreed leaning back into the couch.

“Too bad we don’t have access to any of Pat’s photo albums,” the anxious side said with a sigh, “Now would be the perfect time to go through a few of them.”

Roman nodded in agreement, grabbing a fork full of eggs as he did, “It would be the perfect time wouldn’t it?”

The Royal went silent for a moment as he chewed his food, his eyes slowly widening as he remembered something important.

Within seconds the Royal had swallowed his mouthful and was sitting up straight, the old album from the other day soon appearing in his hands.

Virgil gave the Royal a curious glance, soon sitting up as well, “Where’d you get that from?”

Roman grimaced, “I... accidentally took it from Patton’s room yesterday.”

“He’d wanted to talk to me in private and I found it while waiting for him,” The Royal admitted, “Its got some pretty dark stuff in it so when he opened the door I panicked and flashed it away.”

The Royal turned away, a red tint beginning to dust his cheeks, “I was going to tell him afterwards, but once the talk was over I just wanted to get out as soon as I could so it slipped my mind.”

Virgil flashed him a sympathetic smile, “These things happen. Trust me, he’s caught me off guard more times then I’d like to admit.”

Roman frowned, “That still doesn’t make me feel better about it.”

Virgil let out a soft huff before moving closer to Roman, “Then let’s go through it together, that way if he’s angry about it we can both share the blame.”

The Royal stared at the anxious side in shock.

“A-Are you sure?” He stuttered slightly, trying to regain his composure, “L-Like I said it’s pretty dark, and I only scratched the surface.”

Virgil gave him a slight shrug as he leaned over, trying to get a better look at the album, “So? I’m not scared of a few pictures.”

Roman bit his lip and thought for a few moments before giving in with a sigh.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he mumbled as he finally opened the album.

Virgil gave him a confused look as the Royal flipped through the first few pages, not understanding what was so ‘Dark’ about it. His confusion soon turned to shock as Roman reached the photos he’d found the other day.

The anxious side stared wide eyed at the picture of Patton, occasionally turning from it to Roman and back again, “That was Patton?!”

“That’s the same thing I thought,” Roman answered as he flipped the page, a worried frown on his face, “There’s one of Logan too.”

Virgil’s eyes went even wider as he saw the second picture, “He looks horrible...”

The two went silent as they looked over the page. Eventually they locked eyes with each other and nodded, coming to a silent agreement before turning the page. Within moments they were going through the other pictures together, both shocked and horrified at the cruel reality the Elders had been forced to endure.

After coming across a picture of a riot in the camp Virgil turned to Roman, fear on his face, “What caused this?”

“What do you mean?”

“This!” The anxious side exclaimed pointing to the album, “Everything we’re seeing in these pictures!”

Roman turned to Virgil, stunned, before grimacing as he remembered the younger’s amnesia, “Right... you don’t remember the Dragon Witch...”

Virgil gave him a half confused, half terrified look which caused the Royal to sigh and turn back to the album.

Roman ran his fingers lightly over the picture, his expression going dark, “... things weren’t always bright and cheerful in the mind palace.”

“When Thomas was younger, much younger, the Dragon Witch ruled over the mind palace,” The Royal explained, keeping his eyes glued to the photos, “Everyone was forced to work, either serving her or in slave camps scattered throughout the kingdom.”

“I was one of few that managed to escape to the briar forests and beyond, the farthest reaches of the kingdom where she had no power,” Roman continued, running his fingers over the picture again.

He stopped them over the two figures that resembled the elders, “Others weren’t so lucky.”

Virgil looked down at Roman’s hand as What he said sank in, “I wonder how lucky I was?”

“You were one of the luckiest out there” the Royal began slowly, careful not to say too much, “The day Deceit found me he told me the whole reason he was even out that far was because he’d seen you form a few weeks earlier.”

Roman paused for a moment to collect his thoughts, “He didn’t say much else but I do remember him mumbling something about a bright purple light that lead him to you.”

Roman turned to face the anxious side after and was caught off guard by the sad expression on his face.

Virgil looked up to meet his gaze, “Did you ever talk to me?”

The colour drained slightly from Roman’s face at the question, though it wasn’t enough for Virgil to notice.

“O-Of course I did!” The Royal exclaimed, “though it was only once or twice when Deceit forced you to come out of your room.”

The anxious side furrowed his brow as he thought, “So I was a recluse...”

Roman nodded in agreement, avoiding the others gaze, “as far as I could tell you were scared of being around others, and to an extent... they were scared of you.”

Virgil scoffed at the Royal, “Thanks, that’s totally what I wanted to hear.”

Roman sighed, “I’m sorry Virgil.”

The anxious looked down at his hands, “Don’t be, it’s my own fault that I didn’t make any friends.”

“Besides it’s probably my own fault that my memories are gone.”

Virgil was suddenly startled out of his thoughts by a choked sound coming from Roman. He turned to glance at the Royal and saw he had tears in his eyes and a look of regret on his face.

The anxious side turned away, letting out a sad laugh, “Sorry Roman I just... seeing all these old pictures got me thinking.”

Roman shook his head before wiping the tears from his eyes, “No! No, it’s alright.”

“I can’t imagine how hard it’s been on you, having lost your memories,” The Royal said putting a hand on Virgil’s shoulder, “But if it’s any solace I’m positive that you have at least a few happy memories waiting for you.”

“Even if there isn’t you’ll at least be happy to have them back!”

Roman and Virgil both jumped at the sudden interjection, quickly turning towards the source of the voice.

“Da- Patton!” Virgil yelped, spotting the elder leaning over the stair rail, “how long have you been standing there?!”

Patton giggled, a bright smile on his face, “Only about a minute or two, no need to panic.”

The two younger sides let out a collective sigh of relief which made Patton giggle again.

“So what have you two been up too?” The elder asked as he made his way down the stairs.

Roman turned away, guilt written all over his face, “We, ah.... We’ve been going through one of your photo albums....”

“I had a feeling you’d taken one,” Patton said flashing him a forgiving smile, “The shelf seemed a bit empty when I checked last night.”

Roman hung his head in shame, “I’m sorry Patton I should have told you right away instead of hiding it.”

Patton let out a quiet huff before walking over and ruffling the Royal’s hair, “It’s okay kiddo, these things happen.”

“Besides you should know by now that I love showing off my collections,” He reassured with a smile.

Virgil locked eyes with Roman, “Are you absolutely sure about that Pat’?”

“Of course I am silly!” The Elder said with a giggle as he plopped down beside Roman, “Now then I wanna see which album you took ‘cause I couldn’t figure out which one was missing last ni-“

The elder’s smile disappeared when he saw the photo album on the table, his eyes going wide with shock, “-ght.”

Patton stared at it for awhile before picking up the album, handling it like it could crumble at any moment. Carefully the elder placed it in his lap, running his fingers lightly over the pages once he did. 

Roman and Virgil watched with worry as hundreds of emotions seemed to hit the elder at once, his face quickly changing from joy to confusion to sadness before contorting in anger and finally landing on a tear filled smile.

“Are you okay Patton?” Virgil asked softly, concern written all over his face.

Patton wiped at his tears, “I-I’ll be fine. I-... well I thought I’d never get to see this again.”

Roman eyed the elder with concern and confusion, “Did you lose it?”

“No! No...” Patton exclaimed giving up on fighting his tears, “It wasn’t mine to begin with.”

He turned back to the album, “It belonged to an old friend...”

The Elder trailed off as his tears started falling faster, blurring his vision. Roman put a hand on his shoulder, getting ready to try and comfort the elder, when someone let out a screech from the stairs.

Everyone turned almost immediately to see Logan, still in his pyjamas, about halfway down the stairs, his expression a mix of fear and anger.

The usually calm side rushed down the rest of the stairs and flicked his gaze between the three of them, his eyes eventually landing on Patton and the album.

“How Did You Find That?!” Logan yelled, his voice cracking slightly as he did.

Patton wiped his tears away and stood up to face him, the album held close to his chest, “I didn’t find it, Roman did.”

The logical side turned to Roman at the response, seeming even more furious, “You!? I Had Hoped That You Of All People Would Have Kept Yourself From-!“

“Logan That’s Enough!” Patton yelled, hugging the album tighter.

Logan shut his mouth and turned away, his anger still written all over his face. Suddenly he began to shake, a few stray tears rolling down his cheeks.

Patton’s expression softened, “How long have you been hiding this from me Logan?”

The logical side took a deep breath and swiped at his face, trying to get rid of the tears. After a few seconds he turned back to Patton, opened his mouth to speak, and was immediately cut off by a loud ringtone.

The second it went off Roman scrabbled for his phone, putting it on speaker so everyone could hear.

“Roman!” Thomas exclaimed quietly from the other end, “Thank goodness you picked up.”

Everyone turned to the Royal with confused looks on theirs faces, briefly ignoring the situation with the album.

A look of concern crossed Roman’s face and he motioned for the others to stay quiet, “Whats wrong Thomas?”

“You know how this morning you asked if we were doing any filming at the house?” The host explained, obviously trying to keep his voice down.

“You’re on your way over aren’t you,” Roman stated, a hint of panic in his voice.

“Yeah so you guys need to fix things and hide, like right now!” He hissed in an obviously panicked tone.

“Who you talking to Thomas?” A muffled voice on the other end suddenly asked, obviously scareing the host.

“O-Oh! Just ah, accidentally butt dialed someone!” Thomas lied, his voice taking on an overly cheerful tone, “I was apologizing to them before hanging up.”

Whoever asked the question was seemingly satisfied with the answer as they didn’t try to pry any further. 

The host went quiet again, his voice taking on an even more panicked tone, “I’m sorry for the short notice, but please I need you and the others to hide!”

Without another word Thomas ended the call, leaving the four sides speechless. Eventually they all locked eyes with each other.

Patton was the first to open his mouth, “D-Did he just...”

Roman nodded, attempting to swallow the lump forming in his throat. Without another word the three elders turned to Virgil just in time to see him let out a terrified whimper. Within seconds he was curling in on himself, his mind shutting down as panic began to set in.

This immediately set Roman and Logan into action.

The Royal gently shook Virgil, bringing him back to his senses, as the logical side grabbed Patton.

“Roman Change Upstairs Back To Normal!” Logan ordered as he dragged the elder away, “Patton You’re Helping Me With The Kitchen!”

Roman nodded in understanding and snapped his fingers, before turning back to the anxious side, “Think you can help me clean up the living room?”

Virgil nodded slightly as he forced himself up, immediately getting to work clearing away their unfinished food and cleaning the table.

Within moments they’d all finished their separate tasks, the four of them meeting up at the stairs once they had. 

The elder three let out a collective sigh of relief.

Logan smiled slightly, pleased with everyone’s efforts, “Okay now we just need to-“

Without out warning the doorbell went off making all four sides freeze. A few muffled voices started to drift in afterwards and at that moment Virgil’s fight or flight instincts kicked in making him bolt up the stairs. This in turn set the other three back in action as Logan took charge again and urged the other two up after the anxious side. 

They all made it upstairs not a moment to soon as the second Logan’s feet reached the final step they all heard the door swing open. Laughter and jokes abounded as Thomas and his friends began to crowd into the small living room, all of them but Thomas oblivious to the secret guests hiding just out of sight.

Roman turned to Logan, panic evident in his eyes, before grabbing hold of Virgil who was beginning to whimper again.

Logan stole a quick glance at the stairs then began to usher the others down the hall, leading them towards the office. The second oldest easily herded the others into the empty room and quietly closed the door behind them, slowly backing away from it once he had. Eventually he turned back to the others, huddled and panicked in the middle of the room, and let out a relived sigh.

The elder three stared at each other in relative silence for a moment, all of them at a loss for what to do as muffled laughter drifted up from below and as Virgil clung to Roman, most likely on the verge of a panic attack.

Eventually Roman blinked at the elder two and turned his full attention to Virgil, carefully easing the younger and himself into a corner beside the desk. Once there he pulled Virgil into his lap and started running a hand through his hair, all the while whispering reassuring words to him.

Soon Patton and Logan followed suit, the two of them setting down a few feet away to give the others some space. The two stayed mostly silent as they kept an eye on the others, the only noise between them being the occasional soft hum from Patton. Eventually the eldest started stealing glances at the logical side, trying to gauge the others feelings.

After about the tenth or twelfth glance the bubbly side let out a relaxed sigh and leaned over to rest his head on Logan’s shoulder. This made the logical side flinch, his face going slightly red as he was taken off guard by the action.

The logical side cleared his throat as he attempted to hide his face, “W-What are you trying to do Patton?”

“I’m getting comfortable Teach’” Patton whispered, just loud enough for Logan to hear, “That and I’m trying to lighten the mood a little.”

A slight smile made its way to Logan’s face at that, “Well then you’re doing a good job.”

Patton giggled slightly and snuggled closer, eventually going back to humming softly as he relaxed.

“Hey Lo’?” Patton asked as he lifted his head up slightly.

“Mmhm?”

“What were you going to say earlier?”

Logan frowned slightly and sighed, “I was hoping you wouldn’t bring up that until later.”

The bubbly side flashed him a knowing smile and held up the album, essentially pulling it out of thin air, “No better time then the present.”

Logan rolled his eyes and turned away, seemingly trying to collect his thoughts. They stayed silent for awhile after, both just sitting and listening to everything happening around them. Eventually Logan shifted so he could see Patton easier.

“One of the castle guards gave it to me after the assault,” Logan explained, briefly glancing over at Roman, “It was before we first met Roman, but just after we’d met Dr.Picani.”

“Oh? Then one of us should have seen you get the album.”

The logical side nodded, “You should have, yes, but you two were distracted by one of the servants that had been injured in the attack.”

Logan readjusted his glasses, “More specifically Pranks who, if I’m not mistaken, was immediately won over by your limitless puns and Picani’s extensive knowledge of cartoons and other popular media.”

The bubbly side hummed in approval, “I remember that, he’d looked so scared that I just had to do something to make him feel better!”

“Mmm, Anyways it turns out that that guard was one of two assigned to Nostalgia before...”

The logical side paused for a moment, “Before his execution...”

\- — — —— ————— —— — — -   
The logical side let out a frustrated sigh. They should have met up with the briar forces general ages ago, but the elder refused to stay on task. He kept insisting that he talk to everyone that they happened to come across, leaving Logan to wait for him in the halls.

Eventually he heard someone approach from behind.

“E-Excuse me sir”

“What do you need,” Logan stated abruptly, his voice letting on that he was more than a little annoyed.

He didn’t even turn to face his questioner, opting instead to keep his eyes on the elder that was currently trying to cheer up a child.

“U-Um, I-I was wondering if you happened to be one of the resistance leaders....” the man forced out, seemingly uncertain of his own words.

Logan let out another frustrated sigh before turning to face him. Almost immediately he became wary of the man. He was a guard and a high ranking one at that, though obviously not important enough to be killed on sight.

“Yes, in fact I am,” the logical side replied, pushing up his glasses as he glared at the guard, “And I’ll tell you right now any attempt on my life will not go unchallenged.”

The guard threw up his hands in defence, “T-That’s not why I was asking!”

Before Logan even got the chance to ask the guard pulled out a very familiar album. Immediately he grabbed it and flipped it to the very back page. Right where it was supposed to be was the familiar signature of the former resistance leader, Nostalgia.

“How?!” The logical side hissed, flashing the album away before the Prominent could turn around and see it.

The guard took a deep breath, obviously shaken by the logical sides reaction, “I was given the task of guarding the previous leader before his execution.”

“Lets just say meeting him gave me a whole new perspective on the Dragon Witch,” he said, a look of disgust crossing his face as he did.

“That still doesn’t quite answer my question...” Logan said his eyes narrowed.

“I gained his trust in the few days he was here, so when the time came for his execution to be carried he asked me to take care of it for him,” the guard explained.

His face fell as he spoke, “He told me just before he was taken away that there was two young boys he was leaving behind, even gave me detailed descriptions of them, and said that they would one day carry the resistance to victory.”

“He told me that if I was still alive after that day to find the leaders and give this album to them,” the guard continued, his voice wavering slightly, “He said that if he couldn’t be there for you he could at least leave you with something to remember him by.”

Logan’s expression went dark, almost becoming unreadable. A look of concern crossed the guard’s face and he reached out to try and comfort him.

As if on cue Patton appeared beside Logan, frightening the guard.

“What’s happening Lo’?”

“Ah Patton!” The logical side exclaimed, suddenly acting as if nothing had happened, “Good to see you’re finally done with your ‘Important Business’.”

“Oh come on Lo’, it’s not like Roman has anywhere else to be right now,” The bubbly side said with a giggle.

“You don’t know that,” Logan stated, pushing up his glasses, “So let’s not keep him waiting any longer.”

“Oh alright,” Patton said as Logan began to drag him away, “Goodbye random guard!”

The guard responded with a wave, to stunned to do anything else as the young sides disappeared down the hallway.  
\- — — —— ————— —— — — - 

“So that’s why you two were talking!” Patton exclaimed happily, “I’d thought it was strange that you were talking to one of the guards.”

Roman let out a soft hum, “I’m surprised you were even able to hide from Patton that easily.”

“Of course you were listening...” The logical side muttered.

He cleared his throat, “it was a lot easier to hide things from Patton back then, since there was so much more he needed to focus on. It wasn’t until everything calmed down that he started getting nosy.” 

“Why’d you bring it out here in the first place?” The elder asked, brushing off the accidental insult.

“I felt uneasy leaving it in the mind palace while we’re out here,” Logan explained, “I’ve had to move it a few times because of the Dark Sides, So I didn’t want to risk them finding it while we’re away.”

“They have been coming by a lot more recently,” Roman said with a laugh, “In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve stepped in to run the kingdom while we’re away.”

“Are they even be capable of running a kingdom?” Logan asked, giving the Royal a questioning look.

Roman laughed at the question, “Of course they are! In fact most of them are more capable then myself!”

A smirk found its way into his face, “I’m actually counting on them to knock some sense into those snobby nobles while they’re at it!”

Patton suppressed a laugh at the remark before changing the subject, “How’s Virgil doing?”

“Ah, he passed out awhile... a... go...”

The Royal suddenly went silent, his eyes going wide with fear.

“Roman? What’s wrong?” The bubbly side asked, concerned for the Royal.

Slowly Roman raised his arm and pointed to the door.

The elders quickly turned to face the door and their expressions quickly changed to mirror the Royal’s.

Standing there, frozen in shock, were Talyn and Joan. A bit further down the hall something fell to the floor as someone, probably Thomas, realized what was happening.

Before they even had a chance to react Thomas was behind them, covering Talyn’s mouth with one hand and doing the same to Joan with the other. Immediately the two began to struggle.

“Please, Please, Please~ don’t freakout,” Thomas pleaded, ignoring his friends muffled protests, “I’ll explain everything once the others leave, but I need you two to keep quite until then!”

They both calmed down slightly and gave him skeptical glares.

“Please? I promise I’ll explain everything I know,” The host begged.

After a few more seconds of glaring both gave him a solid nod and he let out a shaky breath as he released them.

“You better keep your word Thomas,” Joan said jabbing a finger at the terrified sides, “‘Cause this? This should not be possible!”

Thomas’s shoulder’s slumped as he ushered his friends out of the room, giving his sides an apologetic look as he closed the door, “I know Joan, I‘m sorry.”

With that the four sides were left alone again, confused and even more scared then when they first hid in the room, wondering how much worse this day could get.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For anyone who skipped the top note and is a bit confused I’ll reiterate down here.
> 
> These lines \/  
> \- — — —— ————— —— — — -
> 
> They indicate a flashback. You might not see them again for awhile but I figured I’d mention them now so you know for later.
> 
> Thanks to all for your continued support and reading of this story!


	14. Questions and Answers

A low groan escaped Virgil as he forced his eyes open. Why was it so bright? The office lights weren’t that strong, and he could have sworn they were off when he passed out.

He let out another, louder, groan as he shifted and within seconds the light was blocked by a dark shadow.

“How are you feeling Virgil?”

The anxious side mumbled something unintelligible as he let his eyes focus on the figure above him. It took a moment for his mind to register them but once it did his eyes went wide with surprise. Within seconds the anxious side was scrambling away from the figure, his mind reeling as he finally recognized Roman. 

The Royal looked slightly hurt by the action but it was quickly forgotten as he caught the anxious side’s expression. Roman got ready to move as Virgil started scanning the room, his eyes wide with a mix of shock and fear as he looked around. He watched as the anxious side’s gaze moved from him to Patton and Logan, then to Thomas before finally....

Virgil froze as his gaze landed on Joan and Talyn. The colour drained from the anxious side’s face as his breathing sped up, his whole body shaking with fear. Almost Immediately Roman grabbed ahold of the terrified side and pulled him close, both hands on his shoulders.

“Hey, Look at me Virg’, Look at me,” The Royal demanded, trying to keep Virgil’s focus on him , “Everything’s Alright.”

“Joan and Talyn found us while cleaning up, so we had to explain everything to them,” Roman explained, his grip tightening slightly.

Virgil calmed down slightly, though his voice was still a bit shaky, “E-Everything?”

Roman made a pointed glance at the others, “Everything.”

Virgil kept his locked eyes with Roman, an unspoken question passing between them. The Royal shook his head slightly in response and Virgil let out a shaky breath. As Virgil began to calm down everyone turned their attention to Thomas.

“So you’re ‘Totally not freaking out about this’, ‘Everything is under control’,” Joan stated sarcastically, flashing the Host a skeptical glare, “That did not look like someone with everything under control.”

Thomas flinched, “I may have stretched the truth a bit...”

A look of disappointment crossed Patton’s face at the statement.

“... But I am doing better than when they first showed up!”

Talyn shook their head in disappointment, a worried look on their face, “Better doesn’t mean okay Thomas.”

The Host’s shoulders sagged in defeat, “I’m sorry, it’s just...”

He let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through his hair, “I don’t know what to do!”

“They don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know what’s going on,” Thomas stated, “I mean I have no idea if it was just an accident or if we’re all in serious danger!”

Thomas looked up at everyone tears in his eyes, “I just.... I don’t know what to do.”

The room went silent as Thomas tried to calm himself down, everyone unsure of what to do. Suddenly Talyn got up and moved in front Thomas, their expression unreadable. Without warning they lunged forward and pulled him into a hug, completely surprising him. Joan immediately followed suit, getting in close to try and comfort both the host and a now teary eyed Talyn.

“Why didn’t you just say something idiot!” They scolded through their tears, “We could have been here to help from the beginning!”

“I-I know, l-I’m sorry.”

Joan hugged him tighter, “Stop apologizing already, it’s getting old really fast.”

“I’m sorry.”

The sides let out a collective sigh of relief as Thomas let go, many of their own worries slipping away as their host opened up to his friends. Eventually Thomas forced his friends away to wipe his face.

Joan flashed Thomas a worried, yet playful, smile, “No more secrets?”

Thomas nodded, “No more secrets.”

A look of relief crossed Patton’s face at that and he smiled at the three friends, taking a quick glance the time, “Now that everything’s been settled how about we have dinner?”

“Oh! Is it that late already?” The host exclaimed, “I didn’t notice.”

Logan let out a slight huff and smiled, “It’s alright Thomas, none of us minded the wait.”

“Though it is about time we ate,” the logical side continued making a pointed glance at Virgil, “Since the four of us had to skip lunch.”

“Right...” Thomas said a guilty look on his face, “uh... does pizza sound good to you guys?”

Virgil smirked at that, a playful glint in his eyes, “Do you even need to ask?”

“Pizza it is then!” Thomas exclaimed as he pulled out his phone.

He turned to his friends as he punched in the number, “Are you two gonna be staying longer or...”

Joan smirked at him, “You think we’re just gonna leave after all that?”

“I just wanted to make sure,” Thomas replied throwing his hands up in defence, “You two hadn’t said if you had plans tonight or not.”

“Nah, we don’t have any plans,” Talyn said with a smile.

“Besides Id like to hear more about the mind palace from you four,” Joan added a curious look in his eyes, “What you guys were saying earlier got me interested.”

Virgil gave Roman a confused look and the Royal flashed him a guilty smile.

“Logan was talking about the album earlier and made a comment about the Dark Sides,” The Royal explained, an embarrassed blush dusting his cheeks, “I made some comments of my own and may, or may not have forgotten to keep my voice down.”

“In his defence,” Logan quickly added, “All of us were being louder than we should have been.”

Virgil gave them all a blank look, “Didn’t you three manage to hide two separate insurgencies for nearly ten years?”

Roman’s face went an even deeper shade of red at the comment, “Well Y-!”

He quickly snapped his mouth shut and turned away, stopping himself mid sentence. 

Virgil smirked, “I what?”

“Never mind,” The Royal answered, “It was a stupid comeback.”

“If you’re all done talking,” Thomas suddenly called out, his hand covering his phone, “Can I start taking orders for pizza?”

— —— —— —— —

About an hour or two later the group were all locked in a deep discussion about the inner working of Thomas’ mind palace, mostly ignoring the now empty pizza boxes littered across the coffee table.

“Let me get this straight,” Joan said his gaze focused on the sides, “There’s hundreds of ‘people’ in the mind palace, and they each represent different emotions and personality traits?” 

Logan nodded, a pleased look on his face, “Correct.”

Joan gestured to the four of them, “And you guys happen to represent Thomas’ most prominent traits which means you’ve got insane abilities.”

“Correct again.”

Joan leaned forward slightly, “To top it all off Roman is the one in charge of everything, meaning he’s the one making sure Thomas’ mind runs smoothly.”

“Officially yes, I am the one in charge of everything,” Roman said with a nod, “However it is virtually impossible for me to take care of things on my own, so Patton and Logan help out as ‘unofficial’ rulers.”

“Don’t forget the Dark Sides,” Patton added, “They help out too!”

A look of shock crossed Thomas and his friends faces. “You Let The Dark Sides Help?!” Joan exclaimed.

“From time to time, yes,” Logan stated, ”Unfortunately nothing would get done if we didn’t.”

“But they’re the Dark Sides,” Talyn said, just as shocked as Joan, “Wouldn’t you want to keep them contained or something?”

“That’s what we all thought at first,” Logan said making a pointed glance at Roman, “How ever a certain someone insisted they be allowed to roam freely around the kingdom and castle.”

Roman rolled his eyes, “They deserve that freedom just as much as the rest of us do.”

“Besides,” The Royal continued, pointing at Virgil, “If we imprisoned, or ‘contained them’, you’d have to take me and Virg’ with them.”

“Wait, WHAT!?” Thomas yelled nearly falling off the couch, “You’re both Dark Sides?!”

“Ah well...yes, but no?” Roman explained, an embarrassed look on his face, “I mean, we lived with them in the Briar Forests for most of our lives but I wasn’t formed there and as far as I know Virgil wasn’t either.”

Roman flashed the group a slight smile, “So we‘re technically Dark Sides, just not by birth.”

A look of confusion crossed Virgil’s face at the statement but it only appeared for a moment, just long enough for Roman to take notice. The Royal didn’t get the chance to say anything though, as their Host immediately started asking questions.

“Is there anyone else like that?” Thomas asked his head tilting slightly to the side, a curious look in his eyes.

The Royal thought for a moment, “I guess it’s the same for Picani, Remy, and most of the others we rescued.”

“Oh! I didn’t know Picani was a side too!” The Host exclaimed in excitement.

“I’m not surprised,” Patton chimed in with a smile, “He‘s your empathic side and believe it or not he’s a fairly active one too.“

“How come I never knew about him then?”

“Unlike the rest of us he prefers to keep his presence hidden, mostly because he doesn’t want to be constantly bothering you throughout the day,” The Elder explained.

Roman nodded in agreement, “Him and Alex both prefer to work at a distance in order to stay out of your way.”

Talyn spoke up at that, “Who’s Alex?”

The elders turned to Roman with blank stares while Virgil rolled his eyes at him.

“You can’t just name drop and expect them to know who you’re talking about,” The youngest stated, “I mean, you hadn’t even told them about Picani and you’re expecting them to know Alex? Really?”

Roman rubbed the back of his neck a red tint returning to his cheeks, “My bad...”

Virgil sighed and shook his head, an amused smile on his lips, “Just try and remember next time.”

The anxious side turned to Thomas and his friends.

“Alex supposedly represents your integrity,” The anxious side explained, “But that role is usually taken care of by Patton, though most of the time he does it unintentionally.”

“Since his actual job is usually taken care of he’s become more of a protective side, spending his time worrying about you, and your friends wellbeing,” He continued, 

Joan gave him a confused look, “So he’s you mixed with Patton?”

The anxious side turned to the elder for a moment then back to Joan with a shrug, “Basically.”

Joan nodded in understanding and Thomas spoke up again, turning back to Roman, “Can we back up a bit? You mentioned there were others you ‘rescued’?”

“Right!” The Royal exclaimed remembering his earlier statement, “Including Remy, Picani and Alex there were five people me and the Dark Sides broke out of camps and outposts during the Dragon Witch’s reign.”

“Of course there were many others but they were the first ones we ever rescued,” Roman added, “and they were also the ones that encouraged us to continue.”

Thomas stared at him in disbelief, “So you just causally went around breaking people out of what were essentially internment camps?”

Roman laughed, “well minus the casual bit, Yes.”

The three friends looked on in awe. Eventually Talyn spoke, directing their question at the elders, “Did you two do anything like that?” 

“Not really?” Patton answered, “I mean sure we did make some... interesting decisions, but nothing too crazy.”

Thomas gave him a questioning look, “what kind of decisions?”

The elder began to look nervous, “Oh you know, a few unplanned attacks on camps here, some night raids there.”

Logan eyed Patton for a moment, debating something, then let out a loud sigh. 

“There was the time we nearly blew up the mines,” the logical side began, “Then there’s the time we poisoned half of the Dragon Witch’s army, the time we set an outpost on fire while still inside, the time you played Marco Polo in the middle of battle, the creation of Patton-Cake, the game of Hide n’ Seek while we were running for our lives, the multiple forest fires, and let’s not forget the ‘Game’ of Freeze Tag you started when we-“

“That’s Enough Lo’!” Patton suddenly screeched, cutting him off, “I Think They Understand!”

The group began to laugh as a light pink dusted Patton’s cheeks. The elder buried his head in his hands as Logan began to comfort him.

“Did you really have to do that Lo’?”

Logan smiled slightly, “Of course, they might as well know everything we did, good or bad.”

The logical side chuckled, “Besides, I have to admit that those are some of my favourite moments to remember.”

A smile returned to Patton’s face and the bubbly side straightened himself. His smile widened a bit more as he leaned over to hug Logan tightly, earning an amused huff from him and a few quiet squeals from the others. Eventually Patton let go and the logical side quickly straightened out his clothes.

Thomas let out a slight giggle, “So it sounds like you two were quite busy back then.”

“Actually, we were mostly inactive for the first half of the rebellion,” Logan said with a shake of his head, “We only took up arms after the old leader... well after he was executed.” 

The group stayed silent as a grim look appeared on Logan’s face, “Up until then we hadn’t even know there was a rebellion happening, let alone the fact that our mentor and guardian was the one in charge of it.”

“Nostalgia.... he’d been so worried about what would happen to us if he was caught that he neglected his own safety,” Patton’s shoulders slumped as he spoke, “In the end they used us as bait to lure him in. He saved us, but for us to get away he had to let himself get caught.”

“His execution happened a few weeks later,” Logan added, his fists tightly clenched, “They made it a grand spectacle, inviting soldiers of every rank from across the kingdom just to watch him die, they even held a Grand Ball afterwards to celebrate.”

The logical side was shaking at this point and his words were practically dripping with hate. Without a word Patton put a hand on his shoulder, immediately calming him down. The elder flashed him a sad smile and turned back to the group.

“When the news finally reached us we broke,” Patton said with a slight shiver, “I was a sobbing mess and Logan... he completely shut down for awhile; wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t speak.”

Patton shook his head slightly before continuing, “Once we’d pulled ourselves together we decided to pick up where Nostalgia left off; freeing the people of the mines.”

“We started off small, clearing out the more remote camps and cutting off access to others with staged cave ins,” Logan started again, much calmer than before, “Before long we had a whole new group of rebels backing us and things just escalated from there.”

The room went silent for a moment as the group stared at the elders in shock, their words taking a moment to set in.

Joan leaned back slightly, their expression a mix of awe and shock, “I never would have guessed the two of you had gone through stuff like that.”

“I mean, you two are so upbeat all the time,” they explained, “Not to mention how naive you two can be sometimes.”

Patton tilted his head slightly in confusion and Logan sighed.

With a blank look on his face the logical side turned to the confused elder, “Adultery.”

“Ohhhh- That,” Patton replied suddenly understanding Joan’s statement.

He thought for a moment and giggled slightly, “I guess that would confuse some people.”

Now it was the others turn to be confused as the elder giggled again. 

“I’ve been using words wrong on purpose,” The elder admitted with a smile, “I started doing it to Lo’ to try and make him smile; I only continued ‘cause I loved your reactions when I started using ‘Adultery’ instead of ‘Adulthood’.”

Roman looked at the elder in disbelief, though his focus quickly turned to Logan as he began to laugh.

“I have to admit your initial reactions were quite amusing,” Logan said a playful smirk on his face, “Though I have to say your reactions to my blatant misuse of slang terms is far more entertaining.”

“YOU’VE BEEN DOING THAT ON PURPOSE!?” Roman screeched, exasperated, “I THOUGHT YOU WERE TWO WERE GENUINELY CLUELESS!”

Logan’s smirk grew wider at the Royal’s response, “This is the exact reason we continued.”

The elders began to laugh as Roman continued to screech, mostly making unintelligible sounds of anger at the fact that he was so easily tricked. Suddenly Logan’s laughter stopped and a look of confusion crossed his face as he pulled out his phone. A loud sigh of disappointment escaped him once he looked at the screen.

He turned to the Host and his friends as he slid it back into his pocket, “I believe we should wrap up our conversation for the time being, as it’s apparently gotten quite late.”

Thomas gave him a confused look, “What do you mean?”

“Well if you look outside you’ll see that it’s gotten dark out,” The logical side explained pointing to the kitchen window, “And if you check the time you’ll see it’s nearly ten o’clock.”

Thomas and his friends turned around to check and sure enough it was pitch dark out, the orange glow of the street lights the only thing allowing them to see.

Joan pulled out his phone in disbelief, “Dang, he’s right.”

They turned to Talyn, “We should‘ve left awhile ago.”

“Sorry ‘bout that kiddo’s,” Patton replied as Thomas’ friends started gathering their things, “Guess we got a bit carried away.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Joan replied brushing off the apology.

“Yeah, there’s no need to apologize,” Talyn added, “It was fun hearing about the mind palace.”

“Besides,” Joan continued as they pulled on their jacket, “There’s obviously a lot more for us to learn from you guys.”

They turned to Thomas’ with a massive grin on their face, “Which means we’ll definitely be doing this again.”

“Hopefully next time we’ll be a bit more prepared,” Thomas replied with a smile.

Talyn giggled, “Hopefully!”

The two friends pulled on their shoes and waved to the sides.

“See ya’ later Thomas!” The two called.

“’Bye!” Thomas called back.

He watched for a moment as the door closed behind them, then turned to his sides.

“So...”

Logan held up a hand to stop him. 

“Whatever you want to discuss, please leave it till tomorrow,” the logical side said quietly, his gaze briefly landing on Virgil who had somehow managed to fall asleep again, “For now I think we all need our rest.”

Thomas looked at Virgil then at the other three and sighed before nodding, “Yeah alright, I’ll get to working cleaning up then.”

Patton immediately shot to his feet.

“No you’re not,” the Elder said as he ushered Thomas towards the stairs, “You’re heading straight to bed like the rest of us!”

“But-“ The host began to protest.

“No but’s,“ Patton said as he pushed Thomas up the stairs, “We can clean things up in the morning.”

After a few more minutes of protest the Host finally conceded and continued willingly up the stairs, Patton following right behind him.

Logan smiled and shook his head before getting up.

He turned to Roman, “Will you need help getting Virgil up to your room?”

The Royal looked down at the anxious side who had unconsciously curled up in his lap. Roman smiled softly and brushed Virgil’s bangs away from his face, “I’ll be fine, he’s not too heavy.”

Logan nodded and headed for the stairs, “Then I’ll leave you to it.”

Roman watched as the logical side started up the stairs, “Goodnight Logan!”

Logan smiled back at the Royal, “Goodnight to you as well.”

With that the logical side disappeared upstairs leaving Roman alone with Virgil. He brushed the younger’s hair back again as he let out a soft groan, “You really haven’t changed have you?”

The anxious side drew closer in response, his lips curling up into a smile. Roman smiled back for a moment but it quickly changed into a frown.

“All this talk about the past...At this rate I’m gonna let something slip...” 

The Royal leaned back slightly as his mind began to wander.

“... I wonder if Deciet knows we’re missing yet?” He muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly, “I haven’t been out to confront him in a while so he might have gotten curious.”

He frowned, “... I wonder if he’s worried about us?”

He let his mind wander for a few more moments before letting out a long sigh. He waited a few more seconds before carefully pushing Virgil off his lap so he could stand. Once up the Royal gently picked up the younger side.

His smile returned as the anxious side melted into his arms, “Why can’t you be like this all the time?” 

With one last look around Roman began making his way upstairs with Virgil, marking the end of a chaotic day; One they all hoped wouldn’t be repeated anytime soon.


	15. A Day Out Together

The next couple of weeks were relatively calm for the group, something they were all thankful for. Thomas went back to working on videos with Joan, Talyn, and even Camden, after explaining everything of course. The four sides managed to settle back into their daily routines as well, with some minor changes.

Logan spent his most of his time researching as usual, though he had a more concrete goal this time. He spent hours online searching for hosts who had gone through a similar situation, sudden disappearances in the area, rumors of people seemingly in two places at once, anything that could lead to a potential solution.

Meanwhile Patton kept the house (mostly) tidy and made sure everyone was eating properly, paying special attention to Logan with how distracted he got with his research. Roman and Virgil pitched in where they could, but ended up spending most of their time helping Thomas with scripts and filming.

Of course with three of them all working on the same tasks they ran out of things too do pretty quickly. This wasn’t much of a problem for the Eldest as he always had Netflix and the internet to scour through, but for the younger two the quiet moments were torture.

“UUUUUGGGGHHH,” Roman whined as he hung off the bed, “Theres nothing to do!”

Virgil rolled his eyes as he flipped the page of his book, “Why don’t you watch a movie?”

The Royal let out a huff, “I don’t want to watch a movie right now.”

Virgil sighed, “Then I’m out of ideas.”

The two went silent for a moment.

“Aren’t you bored too?”

“Of course I am Princy,” the anxious side replied as he turned another page, “Why do you think I’m reading?”

Roman lifted himself up slightly to see the faded gold lettering of Virgil’s book, “Because you want to learn more about yourself?”

Virgil glanced at the Royal with an annoyed look on his face, before kicking him and sending him sliding off the bed with a surprised yelp. The anxious side snickered as Roman attempted to right himself and get off the floor.

The Royal stuck his tongue out as Virgil smirked, “Very funny Sunshine.”

“But seriously,” he continued as he pulled himself back onto the bed, “There has to be something we can do.”

Virgil closed the book and stared at the roof, letting out a slight hum as he did. Eventually he turned his attention to the window. 

It was a beautiful day outside. The sun was shining, leaves were starting to fall, and it was just a bit chilly out; a picture perfect fall day.

The anxious side stared out the window for a moment longer, his mind almost screaming for him to go and enjoy such a beautiful day.

He continued to stare longingly out the window.

“We could go out for a while.”

Virgil’s eyes went wide as he realized what he’d just suggested. The anxious side quickly turned to face Roman, expecting him to be furious, only to find the Royal lost in thought as well.

“... It is a really nice day outside,” Roman admitted.

Virgil felt his heart stop at the Royal’s words, and he immediately started to backpedal.

“B-But we’d have to sneak past the others!” The anxious side exclaimed, desperately trying to convince him otherwise, “A-And we’re way too easy to recognize right now!”

That statement got Roman thinking again and the anxious side realized his words had the opposite effect of what he’d intended.

“I could teleport us outside,” The Royal explained getting up and heading to the window, “The neighbourhood isn’t usually busy this time of day, so there’s very little risk of someone seeing us and freaking out.”

Despite what his mind was screaming at him, Virgil continued, “What about getting back in?” 

Roman narrowed his eyes, “I should have enough energy to teleport us again by the time we get back.”

“if Not then it’ll probably be fine for us to walk through the front door,” The Royal added with a shrug.

The anxious side stared at him in disbelief, “But then the others will find out!”

“They’ll know we’re gone the moment Patton calls for us,” Roman replied, “Besides, once they catch us I can just lie and say I dragged you along against your will.”

He flashed him a smile, “I’ve done it enough times for them to believe me.”

Virgil just stared at Roman in shock, his earlier fears somehow forgotten. He couldn’t believe how nonchalant the Royal was being about everything. Eventually the anxious side pushed himself off the bed.

“Ok, but if everything goes to plan there’s still the problem of us being recognized.”

Roman stopped to think again before turning to his dresser. He opened and closed a few drawers before finally pulling out a red and white varsity jacket. 

He turned to Virgil with cheeky grin, “You got anything else to wear?”

The anxious side looked at the jacket then back at Roman.

A slight smile appeared on his face as he finally pushed his fears to the back of his mind, “I might...”

A bit of searching later and the two sides had their new outfits together. Roman had chosen the varsity jacket along with a plain black t-shirt and some jeans while Virgil had grabbed a dark purple jacket, a My Chemical Romance t-shirt and a pair of black jeans.

“Ready to go?” The Royal asked as he adjusted his jacket.

“Almost,” Virgil replied as he looked himself over in the mirror, “Just gotta do one more thing...”

Roman gave him a confused look as the anxious side pulled his makeup kit out of his dresser, then from there fished out a small package of makeup wipes.

“My eyeshadow is a dead giveaway for most people,” Virgil explained briefly glancing at the Royal, seeing him nod in agreement, “Besides if we’re gonna be out in public I want to at least try to look normal.”

The anxious side took a moment and carefully wiped away his makeup, making sure to remove all of it. Virgil looked himself over again once he’d finished.

“That should be good.”

He turned to Roman with a smile, then gave him a confused look when he saw his stunned expression.

Virgil tilted his head slightly, “Something wrong?”

Roman stayed silent for a moment before shaking his head, “Ah! N-No, it’s nothing.”

The anxious side gave him a skeptical look as Roman began to fidget.

“We should Ah... we should get going!” The Royal suddenly exclaimed, “You know, before the others find out.”

Virgil stared at him for a moment, still a bit skeptical, then shrugged.

“Well you’re the one getting us outside, so do your thing!”

Roman nodded, slightly relieved, and stepped forward, grabbing ahold of Virgil’s wrist. 

He took a deep breath and flashed Virgil a nervous smile, “Let’s hope this works!”

Virgil’s eyes went wide with concern, “What do you m-“

The anxious side didn’t get a chance to finish as everything quickly blurred around them, almost immediately reforming into the familiar scene of the street.

The anxious side swore loudly before spinning around to scan their new surroundings, eventually stopping to check himself over as well. Once he was sure everything was intact the anxious side turned to Roman, slightly angry, and found him hunched over.

Virgil gave him a worried look and held out his hand, “You alright?” 

Roman nodded and let the anxious side help him up, “Y-Yeah... It’s just been awhile since I’ve teleported with someone else...”

“That why you were so nervous?”

Roman nodded again as he checked himself over, “I wasn’t sure if I could still do it, especially since we’re outside of the Mind Palace.”

He looked around for a moment then turned back to Virgil.

“So....,” The Royal continued, rubbing the back of his neck, “What do you want to do?”

Virgil gave him a blank look, “Uhh.... I thought you had something in mind?”

The two stared at each other for awhile, both with the same blank expression on their faces. Eventually Virgil pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a frustrated sigh.

“We went through all that trouble and neither of us has any plans.”

Roman let out a nervous chuckle as he scratched his cheek, “I probably should have thought this through a bit more...”

“That would‘ve been a smart idea idiot,” The anxious side replied with a sigh.

He paused for a moment to think, then walked past the Royal; giving him a light hit to the head as he did.

“Ow! What the- Hey!”

“Don’t start Princy!” The anxious side called over his shoulder, “You deserved it!”

He kept walking, “Now hurry up before I leave you behind!”

Roman sulked for a moment before running after Virgil.

“So you managed to think of something?” 

“Kinda...” The anxious side answered as he counted the houses, “You’ll see in a moment.”

They walked a bit further before Virgil turned onto a seemingly random driveway.

Roman’s eyes went wide, “What are you doing?!” 

The anxious side smiled back at him as he rung the doorbell, “Finally introducing you to some friends.”

Within seconds the door flew open, revealing a young brunette in a baggy ocean patterned t-shirt and boxers.

He stared at them for a moment surprised, then smiled.

“Virgil! I didn’t know you were coming over today!”

“I didn’t either,” The anxious side replied pointing down the driveway, “Me an’ Princy here made some impromptu plans to head out but...”

Lennox gave him an exasperated smile, “But you didn’t plan what you‘d actually do once you’d left, right?”

Virgil smiled at Roman as he walked up beside him, “Bingo.”

The brunette let out an amused chuckle and moved aside to let them in, “Well come on in and make yourselves at home.”

Virgil paused for a moment and looked around, noticing that none of the lights were on.

“Was it a bad time for us to come over?” The anxious side asked as he kicked off his shoes.

“Nah,” Lennox replied as he slid past, “We’ve been up for awhile.”

Lennox smiled, “We just didn’t want to get out of bed.”

Virgil smiled and gave him a questioning look, “You didn’t want to, or Xaivion wouldn’t let you?”

Lennox paused for a moment a faint blush dusting his cheeks, “Both.”

Virgil snickered at his response and the brunette rolled his eyes.

“Anyways you two just get comfortable for now,” He continued, making his way upstairs, “I’ll get Xaivion up and dressed, then we can discuss some plans.”

Virgil nodded in response and turned to Roman, finding him with a very confused look on his face.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times.

Eventually the Royal managed to get his words out, “So that was...”

“Lennox.” The anxious side casually replied as he headed for the couch.

“The friend you keep talking to, got it,” Roman continued as he followed him, “And this is his house?”

Virgil sank into the couch, “Him and Xaivion’s, yeah.”

The Royal looked around suddenly noticing how many paintings there were around the room, “Okay...” 

He went silent for a moment, losing himself in one of the more prominent ones, before bringing himself back.

“So you’re pretty familiar with this place then,” Roman continued glancing briefly at the anxious side.

Virgil thought for a moment and let out a soft hum, “Yeah, I guess it’s kinda like a second home at this point.”

The two went silent again and Roman started to fidget. He glanced back at Virgil again, but quickly turned away when the anxious side noticed his gaze. When the anxious side didn’t turn away the Royal felt a faint blush make its way onto his face. 

Hopefully Virgil’s friends wouldn’t take too long to get ready


End file.
